Australian farmers share the investments they are making in their businesses

A record number of farmers invested in new equipment and machinery in the last financial year, according to the Commonwealth Bank.

While NAB reported equipment finance loans jumped 341 per cent between September 30, 2019, and September 30, 2021.

It's therefore no secret many farmers are choosing to invest their profits in machinery and equipment to increase productivity and make their lives easier.

But what exactly are farmers buying?

We caught up with 15 farming families at the the Elders FarmFest field days in Queensland, the Aon AgQuip field days in NSW and the Dowerin GWN7 machinery field days to find out.

1: What machinery or equipment have you bought for your farm business in the past five years?

Mr Pott focuses on vealer production on his property at Durong and mainly sells the black Simmental/Brangus-cross calves through AuctionsPlus.

When ACM caught up with him on the final day of FarmFest, he had bought a Case IH TR320 skid steer the day before.

"Last year I bought a 2005 model Case IH STX 440 Steiger Quadtrac and cattle crushes and yards," he said.

"I also bought a deep ripper off Tilco; I've had that for three years."

2: How has it made life easier or transformed what you do?

Mr Pott upgraded to the Steiger Quadtrac as his previous tractor could not pull the deep ripper.

While it was tricky to start off with, he said it was a very good machine now.

"We deep rip to let moisture in, so it's improved our productivity beyond imagination really, like our carrying capacity," he said.

"Obviously you've got to have follow up rain after you do it, otherwise you can put yourself into a drought but do it sensibly and it'll do wonders for you."

3: What's the next piece of gear you've got your eye on?

"Possibly a loader, like a 15 tonne loader, but that won't be for another two years, provided cattle prices stay up," he said.

1: The Petersens have a diverse operation at Hervey Bay, which includes cane, maize, soybean and cattle production.

Mr Petersen said they had bought a John Deere 8RX tractor, which was their first move into the tracked tractor market.

2: "We didn't like the two-track machines because of the turning on the ends of the paddocks, it doesn't suit our type of country," he said.

"You don't have any more of that with the four-track machine, which is what drew us to the 8RX and it's been a great help to our business.

"We are controlled traffic and duals don't work for us so going to the single track, 18 inch track system, has worked really well for us."

3: "We're probably looking at some implement purchases, maybe starting with a new fertiliser set-up," he said.

1: The Saez family have been breeding Wagyu at Rosevale for the past 18 months.

Alex Saez said last year they bought a Kioti tractor, rotary hoe slasher and mulcher. They also installed custom-built cattle yards.

"It's a simple design; cattle rail welded all the way around and a concrete pad underneath the crush," Oscar Saez said.

"We designed it so we've got pens that we move the cattle into and break them into smaller numbers, which reduces stress and it's all covered."

2: "Being able to work undercover allows us to treat the cattle in all sorts of conditions, time of the day, it doesn't really affect us too much anymore and it's reducing stress for the cattle," Oscar Saez said.

3: The pair said the list of what to buy next was endless but it was about finding a point to stop, assess what you need, and then go forward.

1: For Santa Gertrudis breeder Rob Sinnamon, his purchases have all been tools of the trade to get the job done.

"I've bought two Can-Am side-by-sides for our own business, a John Deere tractor, a mulcher and a grain mixer," Mr Sinnamon said.

2: "They are essential tools of the trade to achieve efficient managing of your operation," he said.

"They are necessary to get the job done as needed."

3: "There's a nice looking Kenworth truck up there but my wife's not here today so I'll use that as an excuse as to why I'm not buying."

1: Mr Gardner bought a 140 horsepower Massey Ferguson front-end loader tractor with hay forks.

"We've also done a bit of farming and been able to buy a scarifier and combine and plant a bit of oats," he said.

"We were then able to get a contractor in and make a bit of hay for us."

2: The tractor has made his life easier by improving his ability to handle and move hay and rations around.

3: The next purchase Mr Gardner has his eye on is a couple of side-by-sides to run about the farm.

1: What machinery or equipment have you bought for your farm business in the past five years?

The Martin family runs Merinos, Herefords and Angus in NSW and has a Rangeland goat and cattle operation near Warwick in Qld.

"In NSW we bought a new John Deere tractor and then in Qld we bought a new Massey Ferguson," Mr Martin said.

"We have bought a Farmforce 14-foot post rammer with side shift on it; that was the biggest advantage was getting the side shift because we've had two previous Farmforces, one without side shift and one that was cable driven, and the new one is just safer and easier to use."

2: How has it made life easier or transformed what you do?

"The first thing would be the timing it takes to put in a post; it's probably effectively taken about 20 per cent of the time off that would usually take with shifting the tractor around to get the rammer in position," Mr Martin said.

"Now we can just do it all from standing at the side of the tractor and see the post where we need it so it's saving time there, which ends up being money saved."

Mr Martin said upgrading the tractors had been a necessary requirement to keep pace with technology.

"The new Massey Ferguson comes with a tier four engine, which we're going to have to all move towards anyway now and saves a bit more fuel," he said.

3: What's the next piece of gear you've got your eye on?

"We're wanting to get an excavator to help pull down fencing and my brother's actually got an idea of using an excavator to mount everything for fencing on it," Mr Martin said.

"We're also looking at new sheep yards designs, goat handling and cattle handling equipment."

1: Mr Sheather runs a mixed cattle and cropping operation and bought a 525 Versatile tractor close to two years ago.

2: "It has made my life easier in terms of comfort and there's less downtime with breakdowns and things like that," he said.

3: Mr Sheather is keeping an eye on updating his sowing rig or investing cameras to improve security on the farm as he has previously had fuel stolen.

1: The Foleys have bought a secondhand Case IH harvester and a near new Can-Am ATV.

Mr Foley also has a set of new Big Dog offset discs on order from Bathurst.

2: "The harvester was better than what we had and it's improved our productivity," Mr Foley said.

"The offsets are yet to come but we have borrowed some and that's the reason we purchased some, to make it a lot better and economical."

3: "The next dream is an auger and maybe more silos but the other option would be a bunker to get the capacity for grain," Mr Foley said.

"We've looked at tarps for bunkers and also looked at silos."

1: The Wrights have a mixed livestock enterprise including Merino/Border Leicester-cross sheep, Angus and Charolais cattle and Rangeland goats.

They have installed a new shed and three silos as well as upgrading their fencing yards, cattle crush and sheep handling equipment.

Mr Wright said they try to source local were possible and went through Ahrens at Gilgranda for the shed and silos.

2: "They've transformed the business by making stock work easier," he said.

"Labour is getting less and less and it's harder to find capable stock people so we're trying to cut down on labour and invest in technology."

3: The next thing is solar pumping and further developing the place," Mr Wright said.

"We run a lot of petrol motors so we're trying to make it environmentally friendly for the farm and look into developing less of a carbon footprint."

1: Mr Durham said they upgraded their harvester in 2017, which has improved productivity come harvest time by about 20 per cent.

"We bought a John Deere, it was an upgrade from the previous machine we had, similar size I guess a later model, and with a few improvements," he said.

"At that time it felt like a good investment and I'm very pleased we did given it costs a lot more to upgrade that particular size of machine now, so I'm thankful we were able to do that pre-COVID.

"We ran into a drought but in saying that it still proved to be a pretty good move."

2: Mr Durham said the harvester has improved their efficiency and continues to do so.

"It has also allowed us to operate with neighbours as well; they've got similar sized gear so we were able to go and help them in busy times and allowed them to come and help us in busy times as well," he said.

3: There are no major items on the agenda at this stage but Mr Durham had just bought a hot water pressure cleaner when ACM caught up with him at AgQuip.

"I'm pretty happy with the fleet I've got, it's modern enough that it'll keep us going for a few more years yet," he said.

1: What machinery or equipment have you bought for your farm business in the past five years?

After a sheep dislocated his left leg, Mr Barnes invested in a sheep handling crate from Albany so he can handle larger rams without getting hurt.

Mr Barnes was previously a large-scale wool producer but runs multi-purpose Merinos in his semi-retirement.

2: How has it made life easier or transformed what you do?

"There's only one sheep at a time put into like a box and then you can drench or do whatever you need to do to them without being hit by their friends or relatives who sometimes gang up on you," he said.

3: What's the next piece of gear you've got your eye on?

The next investment Mr Barnes has his eye on is a replacement ram.

1: Mr McMorran said technology, such as auto-steer and 2.5cm accuracy, has been the main thing that has helped their seeding program and at harvest.

The broadacre farmers and Angus/Murray Grey producers have updated the truck and bought second-hand rotary headers with draper fronts to improve their efficiency and save a few dollars in the long run.

2: "At the end of the day, it's all about profit and longevity, so maintenance is one of the big priorities on our list because of the age of some of the machines we're running," he said.

"We're lucky enough to have a good workforce and qualified guys that can keep up with that sort of thing."

3: "There's always something to upgrade and update, that's an ongoing process of a farming business," he said.

"It'll be a header probably or land next door but it makes my eyes water to hear what they want for that."

1: The O'Hares invested in a New Holland T9 four-wheel drive tractor on wheels earlier this year to replace their aging tractor.

They also built a machinery and stock handling shed a couple of years ago, which has offered more comfort when undertaking stock work and protected their machinery.

2: "The new tractor has all the bells and whistles on it, so we're keeping up with current technological trends," Frank O'Hare said.

"That lifts our farm up to a newer level of operation in the technological world because it's driving the air seeder and it's recording everything we do.

"It's going to be a reliable tractor I would think and gives us comfort in knowing we'll get our crop in in good time and we won't have any mechanical issues, which we might have had with the old tractor if we'd kept it."

3: When ACM caught up with the O'Hares they had invested in a stubble mulcher and were waiting for it to arrive.

"Down the track there'll be a new boomspray or a new or good second-hand header, depending on how the seasons go and pricing of course," Mr O'Hare said.

1: The Davies have bought Waratah and Gallagher fencing material and are in the process of upgrading the fences on their property.

They are also improving their installation equipment.

"We've got a petrol-powered post driver, a special wire reeler that we've fabricated and we're improving our strainer design," Jake Davies said.

"We're going quite custom with that and our hinges, just to make everything cattle proof for the next 75 years.

"What's on the market isn't a good enough quality for what we want so we're custom building it."

2: They hope the upgrades will keep their Merino sheep and Angus cattle in and make life easier in the future.

"When you haven't got cattle jumping fences or escaping it makes everything a lot better, especially when you go away for a day or two," Jake Davies said.

3: "We're looking at wheel loaders and updating our cattle crush and yards."

1: Mr Royce has bought a 380 horsepower New Holland front-wheel assist tractor and a second-hand seeder bar.

He joins 3000 Merino ewes and crops between 2000 and 3000 hectares depending on the season.

2: "I downsized from a larger tracked tractor and this has made seeding so much easier," he said.

"It's more convenient for me to work with, a lot smoother and more comfortable, has new technology and a better GPS system.

"The seeder bar I traded was quite high-tech, a lot of moving parts, a lot of wear and tear, which I didn't need for where I farm so I traded that and got a virtually new smaller bar but it's much more straightforward."

Mr Royce said he hasn't reduced his productivity by switching to a slightly smaller tractor and bar.

3: "I'm looking around at boomsprays to upgrade the one I've got," he said.