Hutcheon and Pearce High Performance newsletter v3 q1 2015

ISSUE: 3

The MD’s message Arron Hutcheon- Managing Director

I have spent a lot of time the last quarter getting out and visiting new and current customers. A reoccurring theme that I keep hearing is that some customers want a central point of contact with H&P to help coordinate parts, service, sales and TECSight interaction better. While others prefer to talk direct to each department but are looking for H&P to communicate internally with ourselves better.

So regardless of who you are talking too we are all on the same page with your business interactions. We understand that there is no cookie cutter approach to this, and every customer’s situation is different. How we deal and interact with you and your experience with H&P has always been a priority with me.

However, I understand we need to be doing this better! We are committing to training and tools to deliver to you what I see as the key No#1 objective of ours, that is to help you and or your business get more value, support and satisfaction out of the solutions we offer.

Investing in our people has been the focus for H&P between last issue and this, and there is plenty more to come.

I am really pleased with what we have achieved with our training and investment in our apprentices and trainees over the last few

months.

In this issue you will hear about our successful “O” Week for our trainees and apprentices and how we have partnered with TAFE to have a dedicated Hutcheon and Pearce class for every year, using specific JD/ HP content and the most important thing is our Techs are getting trained on current model John Deere equipment with our tools, exactly how it gets done in each of our 11 workshops!

I want to say well done to all involved, It is very impressive work so far, and we look forward to seeing the fruits from all your hard work.

I have some other exciting news in regards to our support capacity in Lake Cargelligo and Coleambally. Both these dealerships have not had a service department for a long time now.

I am pleased to announce and welcome Matt Hudd to the Lake Cargelligo shed reporting to Simon Garbett, Service Manager in Griffith, and welcome Aaron Jones and Carl Avery to the Coleambally shed. Carl Avery will be the Coleambally Service Manager reporting to Sandy Massina the Branch Manager in Finley.

IN THIS ISSUE Arron’s message & Temora Techs

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Used machinery, Apprentices & Trainees

2

HPA O week & Welcome

3

TECSight iGrade & TerraCutta Demo Days 4 Farm Safety & Aftermarket Prism

5

Kuhn Demo at Alectown

6

Tractor Optimisation Clinic at Henty

7

Header Drivers, Tractor Pull

8

Temora News

8

Admin News

9

Albury News

10

Oil Promotion

11

Employment & Memory Lane

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Anniversary milestones this quarter 15 Years Andrew Lewis - Branch Manager Wagga 5 Years Henry Messner - Service Technician Wagga

Finally good luck with whatever agricultural activities you have over the next few months.

Two new techs for Temora

Craig Thorp - Service Manager Temora

We welcome Nick Maclagan and Alex Bryne to the Temora workshop.

Nick spent a short period of time with Armstrong Machinery at Finley (which is now part of the Hutcheon and Pearce Group) before starting his apprenticeship with Westrac in Albury.

After his time with Westrac, Nick made the move to Tasmania working for a farming company with a fleet of John Deere machinery.

Nick had the opportunity to work with walker style machines, which will be a great experience to bring to the workshop and will be handy in the expansion of the header business.

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Alex completed his apprenticeship with McClintocks in Forbes before moving to Temora to join the green team.

Alex also worked with Agman Services during the 2014 harvest helping with the daily servicing of the machines and also had the opportunity to operate the headers obtaining vital knowledge of how the machines work.

Alex is turning his AMS experience that he gained working with Trimble into the John Deere system picking up the setup and operation very quickly.

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Used Equipment Stuart Robertson - Group Used Sales Manager

Used sales have been steady with a strong demand still for loader equipped tractors up to 120HP and Mechanical Front Wheel Drive tractors up to 300HP plus.

Although we have some trades coming in on forward orders we need more to satisfy the current demand.

Also on hand is a good choice of used harvesters so please enquire with your local H&P branch to see what’s on offer to suit your budget.

MOTM Machine of the Month is the 6330 Premium John Deere Tractor with a John Deere 653 Loader complete with Bucket and Grapple. *1500hrs

*IVT Transmission *Cab Suspension *TLS Front Suspension *540/65R38 rear Wheels @ 60% *480/65R24 Front Wheels @ 60% *Full 3 Function Loader with Electric Joystick and Loader Suspension A1 Excellent Condition, and would suit new buyer. Available now at our Wagga Branch

Apprenticeships and Traineeships Matt Duffy -HR Mentor

G’day everyone, here is an update on all things apprentice and trainee. Our partnering with the TAFE Wagga campus is going along well and will get better as time goes on. The fella’s are all settling in well and the word is they are happy with the knowledge and enthusiasm the teachers are providing.

The brand new 6125M (below) has finally arrived and will be a great hands on training aide. I have already been given some faulty sensors for the teachers to install and confuse the hell out of the apprentices. We are also getting closer to providing TAFE with a H&P donated second handy which the boys will be able to strip down and reassemble. Big thanks to all service managers, the second hand gear you have handed to me will also be invaluable to the training of our future technicians.

Bob Middleton with Vin and Sandsy’s input is in the process of writing the next set of parts and sales training modules which will drastically improve the contents making it more relevant to our trainees needs.

Fingers crossed they are up to standard because we have some very keen trainees with high expectations.

Aside from spending time lately on all things TAFE I have had the pleasure of being involved with the apprentices performance reviews. By pleasure I mean everyone is going along well. For those who were a little down and unmotivated in the last chapter (for all sorts of reasons) are right back up there and charging along, well done.

To all the apprentices who I have had some practical time with in your workshop thanks for your enthusiasm and willingness to listen and learn. The three days I had at Finley in Feb were a bit of a standout. I spent some hands on time with the fourth year Jonty (who has now gone home to family farm) then a solid day and half with first year Vaughan and second year Luke. These blokes are impressive. Their interest in learning and drive to get in and get a quality job done blew me away. There is a difference between just listening for the

Hutcheon & Pearce - High Performance

sake of it and listening because you want to and these boys have it right. They both will play a big part in H&P future.

A note of celebration goes to the following.

Brayden Kalms, Luke Romans and Noah Bellato. These three goers have had the drive to combine their high school education with their first year of Tech school and come out the other side. Well done. Shaun Braybon, Darcy Munroe, Ben McIntosh and Paul Challoner. Massive congrats to you guy’s. You have finished your formal training and now hooking in to the next chapter of your career. Well done.

Just a quick thank you to all Branch’s especially Service Managers for welcoming me on my rounds as we build this HR Mentoring opportunity for all at H&P.

(Below) Dave Carter from RITAFE on the first day of TAFE for first year apprentices.

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H&P Academy O week 2015 Jacqueline Negline-Smyth - HR Manager

Les Cheney, our new Parts Interpreter, was previously employed by Bougault Australia for 10 years as a Spare Parts Interpreter and as a Contractor assembling their Ploughs and Air Seeders for 4 years.

A major event on the Hutcheon and Pearce Calendar for 2015 was a two day event called O week for all Apprentices, trainees, Service and Functional Managers.

Les is a Mechanic by trade and he has worked for farm machinery dealerships for the majority of his working career.

The Riverine Club provided a great venue for break out groups and we all got very chummy in the 40 degree heat without airconditioning!!!

(Above) Years 1-4 Apprentices and Trainees with Service Managers engage in the High Perforance Teams session. (Below) Parts Trainees Rebecca Keatley (Wagga), Jason Miller (Griffith) & Tim Ring (Lake Cargelligo).

(Left) Matt Duffy takes the apprentices through Tips and Tricks.for performance.

The intention of the 2 days was to launch the Hutcheon and Pearce Academy (HPA), prepare the Trainees and Apprentices for the next 8 months of TAFE training, establish High Performance Team expectations, induct new employees, familiarisation with guys from other branches especially those in the same year at TAFE and to have some fun together.

All Apprentices and Trainees at TAFE met with their respective TAFE teachers and discussed their expectations, do’s and dont’s and the calendar of training.

We have developed a H&P John Deere specific school with the RITAFE in Wagga.

All apprentices and trainees will attend a single week a month dedicated to H&P processes, green equipment and tooling, and embedding the John Deere University Level 1-3 courses in the core Australian curriculum.

Having had this experience he feels he has a lot to offer both his colleagues and the customers in this field.

Welcome to Condo Service Mal Toovey has joined the Condobolin Service Department as our new service Foreman to take over from Carl when he leaves for Coleambally.

Mal has moved to Condo from Nowra on the NSW South Coast. Mal has spent most of his career in the construction and mining industry with a wealth of knowledge within the heavy diesel applications.

(Above) Tom Hensgen works with all the Service Managers on Service Metrics and efficiencies.

Chris Greentree from MEGT spoke to the team about government incentives, signing up and the role of MEGT as one of our AACs - Australian Apprenticeship Centre.

Mal has taken on the role at Condo as he has wanted to carve a new career in the agriculture sector with what he can bring from the construction and mining sector and a back ground in farming.

Mal joined Hutcheon and Pearce as he thinks the vision that the company has for the future and also present is a great innovation into the agriculture sector, as he has seen similar features go through the mining sector with great success.

New apprentices and trainees including two dual qualification adult apprentices were officially signed up with their contracts and formally inducted into H&P. Fourth Year apprentices and their Service Managers worked with Matt Duffy on the final year expectation to ‘Step up’ as leaders and skilled technicians in the shed.

Welcome to Parkes Parts

(Above) Induction of new employees and first years.

A few rounds of Paint Ball concluded the first day with all sorts of bruises appearing that evening while we had dinner and a few drinks at the Big 4 Caravan Park lawned area.

Thanks to The Lion’s Club for catering and donating the funds to charity.

High Performing Teams was the theme throughout the two days with teams working in Branch teams, year and role groups. A final “Battle of the Years” and awards ceremony certainly lent to the recognition of many High Performing team members. Feedback from the RITAFE teachers about the calibre of our Apprentices and Trainees has been commendable. Keep up the good work guys. Well done. You do us proud.

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TECSight iGrade & TerraCutta Andrew Watt - TECSight & Integrated Solutions Manager

iGrade and TerraCutta Demonstration Days During late February the Hutcheon and Pearce TECSight team along with the local Sales teams in Griffith and Finley conducted demonstration events at local properties highlighting our landforming technologies.

(Above) H&P’s equipment at the Finley Demo Day. (Below) Customers and staff learning about iGrade. (Way below) Trent Royston presenting at the Finley Demo.

The products allow for in cab design of levelling projects in both single or multiple planes as well as functionality to design and implement drains, contours and levees.

The events showcased the John Deere iGrade product which allows the tractor’s hydraulics to precisely control the height of a scraper bucket and also the TerraCutta software package that takes landforming design to a whole new level.

(Above) Serge Panazzolo’s 9560R and Horwood Bagshaw Bucket fitted with iGrade and TerraCutta.

(Left) Mobile Base Station for Landforming.

Attendance from customers exceeded expectations and a big thankyou to all involved specifically Sean McColley from PCT, Trent Royston H&P TECSight Finley and Matt Sanders H&P TECSight Griffith.

6M TRACTORS GIVE YOU MORE DRIVE ONE TODAY Hutcheon & Pearce - High Performance

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Farm Safety

Farming is a very physical occupation and workers can injure themselves by lifting heavy loads Most agricultural manual handling injuries involve the back and weight-bearing joints and the risk of injury can be minimised by good lifting techniques and safe working habits. Farmers and farm workers are commonly affected by muscle and ligament strains. Lifting objects that are too heavy, twisting and bending while carrying a load, sudden jolts or even bad posture over a period of time can injure soft tissue and joints.

Injuries to joints, in particular the back, can have a major impact on your health and the day-to-day running of your farm.

•Maintain correct posture.

•Take frequent breaks or break up repetitive tasks if possible.

•Cool down after heavy work with gentle, sustained stretches.

•Follow your doctor or physical therapist’s advice for safe stretching.

•Exercise regularly to strengthen muscles and ligaments.

•Maintain a healthy body weight to reduce stress on bones and muscles.

•Poorly designed or worn-out seating (in tractors or other large machinery) can also cause problems.

•Climb down from tractor cabins and other large machinery, rather than jumping, to avoid jolting impacts on joints.

•Wear appropriate footwear with support to minimise stress on joints and the spine. Keep your muscles strong and fit.

•If you are sedentary, make sure you get up and stretch.

•Work from the same side of the fence as the animal, rather than attempting to drag it over from the other side.

General tips for preventing back injury on the farm

Things to remember

Prism News

JDPrism

JDPrisim – Parts Inventory Optimisation

JDPrisim – Parts Inventory Optimisation

Late last month Hutcheon and Pearce moved to a new John Deere parts inventory system called JDPrisim. JDPrism is a John Deere Worldwide Parts Services tool focused on parts inventory optimisation and improving parts fill rates. This system looks at up to the last 5 years of parts sales data to apply meaningful ordering suggestions to us on a daily basis. We believe that this system will noticeably improve in store parts availability to our customers through optimising our inventory to provide the right part at the right time.

This month Hutcheon & Pearce celebrates a very innovative change in all of their parts departments. Hutcheon & Pearce have switched over to a revolutionary new style of computer generated parts ordering system. JD PRISM (Parts Retail Information System Management) is designed to optimise the inventory held in all our stores. It is ultimately aimed at significantly increasing the breadth of stock held in all locations.

Peter Goodsell - Work, Health and Safety Manager safety –

Manual Handling

Ways to reduce back pain and prevent injury include: •Warm up cold muscles thoroughly before engaging in any manual work.

•Organise your work area to reduce the amount of lifting, bending, twisting and stretching required.

•Use mechanical aids or get help to lift and carry heavy loads whenever possible.

•Lift and carry heavy loads correctly. Bend your knees rather than your back to pick up a load and lift with your thigh muscles. Keep the load close to your body.

•Lift loads straight up. Avoid lifting while also twisting.

Tom Hensgen - Aftermarket Manager

As part of the integration of this system, we brought 1-2 staff members from each of our 11 locations into Wagga for 2 days to be trained by dedicated John Deere Parts analysts in Australia. (as seen below) The first day involved setting the background parameters to ensure that we accounted for stock of fast & slow moving parts and that the system ramped up parts supply during seasonal period. The second day we went through training on the ordering process, which firstly involved rebalancing our inventory between locations. The parts guys are still busy moving over 1500 parts lines between locations to better balance the parts to where they are required.

We are excited to monitory the benefits that this system will bring to our customers and will continue to tweak the system to ensure that our parts fill rates continue to improve.

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•Arrange your workplace to minimise lifting, bending and twisting.

•Practice good posture and safe working habits to prevent most back injuries.

•Lift and carry heavy loads correctly, keeping the load close to your body and lifting with your thigh muscles.

•Inexperienced or unfit workers are much more likely to injure themselves.

•Repetitive tasks (such as drenching) that involve bending, twisting or even light lifting can still result in injuries.

•Organisations such as Work Cover can offer valuable advice on improving health and safety on your farm.

Lisa Schulz - Parts Manager Temora

Two days of training was recently held in Wagga, with almost all of our parts staff attending. The John Deere led training was very exciting and extremely informative. Within the first few days of the implementation of JD PRISM the work load of each parts department was greatly expanded, with over $64,000.00 worth of stock being transferred amongst the stores.

JD PRISM will be run daily in all locations, advising of transfers, stock orders and seasonal orders accordingly.

JD PRISM will help us to make sure that we have the rights parts in the right stores, resulting in long term benefits for our customers.

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Kuhn Demo Day in Alectown.

Chris Green - Sales Representative Parkes

At the beginning of February the partnership of Kuhn Australia and Hutcheon and Pearce put on a demonstration day on farm at Alectown around 15km north of Parkes. The day was a runaway success with both customer attendance and product performance exceeding expectation.

Two machines were on display, both the Kuhn Gladiator and Optimer had a go in a lighter clay soil. They performed magnificently with the Gladiator in particular catching the eye of all in attendance. Several attendees commented on the machine’s ability to break a clay pan and work depths up to 300mm while also adding the desired ‘air gap’ for perfect tilth underneath the seed bed. Advantages of the Optimer were also noted with the crowd observing its ability to work out weeds beyond 3-4 leaf stage as well as manage stubble loads easily.

The customer turnout was probably the high point of the day. With numbers nearly double what was expected it gave the growers of the area a rare chance to catch up and share opinions on new and emerging techniques, not only tillage but farming in general.

The exposure of Kuhn and John Deere products in a very progressive area allowed customers to see the advantages in both.

A huge thanks firstly to Craig Ward and family for providing the venue, also to Preston Burns for his insight and Mitch Dunn for cooking a barbeque that would have been the envy of any MKR contestant.

Of course a huge thanks to Chris Bain from Kuhn Australia for providing bread for the barbeque and without whom the event would not have been possible. Also to the guys behind the scenes who made life easier and ensured the day ran smoothly.

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Tractor Optimisation Clinic at Henty.

Steve Ruskin - Sales Representative Temora & Alex Bryne - Service Technician Temora

On Monday 16th and Tues 17th we were lucky enough to spend some valuable time at the Henty field days site gaining experience from some of John Deere’s best trainers. The 2 days consisted of four groups which moved around to the different stations that were set up for the different models of tractors, ranging from 6R’s to 9R’s. Within these groups we discussed the benefits and some of the main key points of the optimisation of the machine in the field. We also talked about some of the main benefits of each machine and set up’s to maximise the performance of the machine.

Each student was able experience setting up the machines for different operations and had the opportunity to test the tractors first hand. In addition, the focus was on Integrated Solutions and the benefits of John Deere link from both customer and technicians point of view.

Overall everyone who attended walked away from the two days with some valuable knowledge that they can share, to benefit customer and each of the dealerships.

(Top left) Ashley Irvine (Albury) and David Kidd (Griffith) setting up the 6R. (Top right) Techs discussing the ease of removing weights on the 8245R with trainer Anton Kowalenko from John Deere.

(Right) Preston Burns (Parkes), Alex Brynes (Temora), Anton Kowalenko & Nick Baum (John Deere), Josh Douglas (Parkes) and Henry Messner (Wagga) (Below) The gear in action at the Henty Machinery Field Days site for the team to drive, set up, fiddle with and establish the best optimisation.

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Waaia Tractor Pull Myles O’Kane - Sales Representative Finleyy

Nineteen early row crop tractors lined up at the Waaia Vic. Hotel on Sunday 15th March after the tractor pull Saturday night. The idea started two years ago with only 4 tractors turning up and next year they are hoping to get close to 50. It was a good day and I would imagine most the tractors (or drivers?) would have still been there the morning afterwards.

Nothing runs like a Deere…

All of the tractors are still working today on the local Waaia/ Picola/Karimba farms. They all have a story to tell including some coming from the Mallee country and a couple are still owned today by the original owners. Most tractors have well over 10,000 hours and the farmers love the annual event with one particular owner skipping his grandma’s 80th birthday just to be part of it. The photo below has the full 40 series fleet owned by various farmers. Whilst most of the farmers also own modern John Deere tractors with good air conditioners and GPS equipment they say that the new equipment doesn’t have the feel that the old 40 series do. It was a great day listening to stories from the work that they have done. Well done to the local Waaia community and to the Waaia hotel for putting on a fantastic event.

Header Driver’s Convention Warren Plummer - Branch Manager Narrandera

The annual “Header Driver’s Convention” held at the Murrumbidgee Hotel in Narrandera on the 6/2/2015 was a huge success with lots of stories told and over 120 in attendance enjoying themselves.

Lots of Laughs with Macca McKenzie raised in excess of $7,000 for CAN ASSIST which well exceeded Neil’s expectations.

Albury Base Station survives fire

Craig Christensen reports that the Base Station is fully operational despite the appearance of the surroundings.

Temora News

Craig Thorp - Service Manager & Lisa Schulz -Parts Manager

The Team in the Temora workshop are busy at present with plenty of variety to have the skill and experience of the team used to their full potential.

We would like to congratulate Michael Huntriss on his appointment as Foreman

of the Temora workshop, as the team is growing Michael is a great asset to the business with the knowledge and experience on the John Deere product, Michael is happy to share this experience with the younger team members of the workshop which will be an added bonus in the times ahead.

Congratulations to Michael (Service Foremen) and Denise Huntriss on their wedding Saturday 28th February. We wish Mr & Mrs Huntriss all the best for their new journey together.

Best wishes to Brayden Kalm our 2nd year apprentice for the celebration of his 18th Birthday.

Harvest inspections have already started with Nick Maclagan coming on board to assist Craig this up coming harvest. With the growth of the team our aim is to expand the header side of the business in the local area.

With the inclusion of Alex Byrne to the team he will relieve some of the load from Michael in the tractor and AMS department.

2015 is shaping up to be an exciting time to be part of the growing team here in Temora

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Admin Team News Karen Garnsey - Financial Controller

Group Admin Meeting

Staff Update

A gathering of the administration staff for the Group was held in Griffith in late February to share best practice and communicate upcoming changes in this sphere of operations. Opening comments by Bill Armstrong were followed by a presentation of the Hutcheon & Pearce strategic plan and wide ranging discussions on key administrative areas. The importance of the admin team in assisting the branches to implement our new sales process was highlighted, with their role pivotal to ensure good communication between all departments. The emphasis on keeping the process in the branch and decisions close to our customers was also highlighted. The dinner at La Scala was most enjoyable and fortunately the local hotels saw fit to close before we could share our collective wisdom with them!

My thanks to all for making the trip and providing a productive meeting, and particular thanks to Tony, Lucy & Libby and all the team at Griffith for their hospitality.

Effective Monday 23rd March 2015, Jason Harmer will be relocating from the SRO to the Parkes branch. This is a great example of reaping the benefits of our technology, in particular the live portal, to ensure we can be flexible in having roles in our regional areas to offer solutions to our employees which take into account their work-life balance. Note that Jason will still be spending plenty of time in the branches and at the SRO, particularly as we roll out the new sales process and prepare for the upcoming Order Management pilot with John Deere. Our thanks to Barry and the team at Parkes for welcoming Jason to the fold.

Sales Optimisation Process Coming soon to a branch near you!

Watch this space, training and roll out to commence late April.

L to R: (Back row): Peter Goodsell, Sonja Dewan, Nikita Beatty, Scott Hetherington, Molly Campbell, Lorrain Breen, Margaret Wallace, Libby Lok, Debbie Thornton, Cathy Armstrong, (Front row): Jason Harmer, Bridget McNair, Katie O’Callaghan, Debbie Broomhall, Karen Garnsey

All-round performance for all around your operation From material handling to cutting and baling hay plus high-speed transport, the John Deere 6M and 6R Series Tractors are big machines built to take on big challenges. Choose from models with 78 to 156 engine kW (105 to 210 hp*), pair your choice with an available John Deere loader, and you’ll get the hardest working workhorse all around your operation. Best of all, you’ll get an all-round great deal when you stop in and see us today.

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Albury News Craig Christensen - Branch Manager Albury

Supported EventsThe Mighty Mitta Muster, Corowa historic vehicle and machinery club.

On the 8th of March Hutcheon and Pearce supported two major local events the Mighty Mitta Muster and the Corowa historic vehicle and Machinery club. Both days proved to be a great event and opportunity to take the family out and view both machinery from the yesteryear and challenging events such as the wood chopping and Stockman’s Challenge.

Pictured right is a well restored John Deere “D” series testing its power against the appropriately named sled the Enforcer at Corowa.

Goodbye

Tom Yates who is returning to the family farm. Tom has proven to be a reliable and trusted member of the Albury service department over the past 10 years starting as an apprentice in 2005. I would like to thank Tom for his loyalty and good work ethic during this time and wish him success in his future endeavours working the family farm. It is great to see another young member joining the local farming community.

Local Demo Days

In conjunction with the Riverina Plains Group Hutcheon and Pearce were invited to attend a speed tiller demonstration day at Howlong, with many manufacturers represented, it was a good opportunity for the local farming group to observe the performance of multiple machines and there stubble incorporation methods. Hutcheon and Pearce displayed the Kuhn Optimer The OPTIMER+ stubble cultivator with independent discs is the ideal machine for high quality superficial soil cultivation and stubble incorporation.

It facilitates self-seeding, decomposition of organic matter and prevents soil moisture loss improving your soil structure and arguably your future yield. The OPTIMER+ can reach impressive soil engagement capacities thanks to its original design that provides unfailing robustness allowing impressive working speeds enabling the user to cover more ground in a shorter period of time. All the best Tom.

Welcome to the Albury Service Team

Janice Naissen joins us from a farming family having grown up on large properties near Henty and Holbrook. Janice’s role is in the Service Department as the Service Adviser. Janice has spent most of her working life employed in Finance/ Accounting roles. Most significantly 25 years at BTR/DSI where she was employed in various accounting roles within the Finance department.

Janice has a Degree from Charles Sturt University in Accounting/Business and is also a Justice of the Peace. Janice currently lives at Gerogery on a small property with her Husband and son.

In her spare time she is usually tripping around the countryside competing with her warmblood horses specialising in dressage. Janice is looking forward to working for Hutcheon and Pearce and enjoying the rural atmosphere.

Albury Social Club enjoys a weekend in Echuca

The Albury social club enjoyed a well earned break when they ventured to Echuca on the 27th February. Over the 2 day period members enjoyed taking in the local attractions such as the Echuca historical port of Echuca, a lunch time cruise down the murray on the Emmylou paddlesteamers, the Holden museum and the local brewery. A big thanks must go out Jason Fitzpatrick (Social Club President) for co-ordinating the enjoyable weekend had by all.

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R = Ready. Ready Right Now.

Welcome to Narrandera Debbie joined the Hutcheon and Pearce Narrandera team as Parts Interpreter at the end of January. She has spent the last few years living in Cobar, employed as Parts Supervisor with Atlas Copco Mining and Rock Excavation. Prior to this, she was a retail manager.

Debbie and her Fiancé Andrew, along with their 1yr old daughter, Piper have made the move back to their home town of Leeton to be closer to family. They are enjoying the opportunity to have more time to socialise with friends and family and pursue interests outside of work.

From row crops and broad-acre grains, to hay and material handling, the John Deere lineup of 5R, 6R, 7R, 8R, and 9R Series Tractors give you more power and options to help grow your operation. Built with a John Deere PowerTech™ engine, easy-to-operate controls, and the most comfortable cab around, you get all the power and convenience you need to work comfortably all day, every day. So if you’re ready to take your farm to the next level, call or come in today. These tractors are ready – right now.

Debbie looks forward to spending many years with the Hutcheon and Pearce team and is hoping to meet you all at some point in the future.

Oil Promotion

Win a $4000 Flight Centre Voucher Hutcheon and Pearce and John Deere have recently reviewed their strategy on genuine John Deere oils. We are excited Model availability varies by dealer. Images used are for illustration purposes only and may show features or attachments not available from all dealers.that See yourwe dealerhave for details. reduced our oil to say pricing to be very competitive within the industry, whilst offering the best quality oil specifically designed for John Deere equipment.

To promote this fact, Hutcheon and Pearce will be giving away a $4000 Flight Centre voucher to one of our lucky customers that purchases over 100lts of oil on a single invoice between 1st February and 31st of July.

We are also giving away between $35 and $250 toy and merchandise vouchers will every oil purchase of between 100 and 1000lts of oil. Thanks to all of our staff that have that are talking to our customers about this promotion and are achieving some great results.

So why not come and talk to us today to take advantage of these offers. Don’t risk your John Deere machinery, insist on genuine oils and filters.

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Memory Lane

Please send in old photos of customers or team members with our old machinery on site or hard at work.

Below is two great shots of Trevor Breen from TECSight in Parkes in December1980. The 8430 was one of the first machines of it’s kind in the country.

Employment Vacancies Jacqueline Negline-Smyth - HR Manager

Parts

Parts Interpreter/Storeman - Albury

Service

Ag Diagnostic Technicians – -Griffith, Condo, Wagga, Narrandera Service Manager - Wagga Workshop Foreman - Wagga, Parkes Apprentice - Coleambally

Sales

Small Ag and Turf Sales Representative – Cowra Large and Small Ag Sales Representative - Cole

Branch Manager - Narrandera If you are looking for a career change or know of someone who is, please pass on the lead to send a resume and cover sheet with why you are interested and suited to the role to

hr@hutcheonandpearce.com.au.

Rice Harvest Happenings

By Ben Burge - Service Technician Finley

The Finley Branch experiences what is known as a dual season with a conventional cereal season beginning with sowing starting usually by ANZAC day weekend while autumn harvest is close to finished, sometimes still going depending on the conditions. On the completion of sowing and harvest, service mechanics begin preseason inspections on harvesters for the following cereal harvest commencing October through to January.

During winter all is not quite due to tractors still going, preparing the ground for sowing rice in September, spraying and top dressing the cereal crops that are already established.

September comes and the fertilizer is drilled into the dry ground via airseeders or combines.

Rice seed is sown two ways either dry sown with airseeders, or pre-germinated grain is aerial sown into bays already filled with water.

Dry sowing rice involves flushing the crop up to 3 times before filling the bays with water, giving some growers to be able to make a pass with a ground spray rig rather than the plane.

The water level in the rice crop varies through out the season with the critical time being establishment and also topdressing in January, all this is happening while cereal harvest is well under way and Christmas quickly approaching.

Christmas and new year celebrations are over and its back to the headers once again for another round of preseason repairs and adjustments during January to March.

With a hot summer water is usually drained from the crops in march and when the seed is at the right moisture content the harvest starts early march. Actual harvest hours are limited, unlike cereal harvest, due to the high moisture content of rice a morning dew will stop machines from starting early along with the rice being to tough to thrash, The same thing applies in the evening. Before you know it you are going to the dawn service a year later!!

Facts and figures

•This season 2015 Sunrice has 650 rice growers on 1100 different farms through out the Murray and Murrumbidgee valleys.

•This seasons harvest is expected to reach 700,000 tonnes •55% of this years crop is grown in the Murray valley with 45% in the Murrumbidgee. This varies from year to year due to water allocation.

•This years water allocation was 59% in the Murray and 51% in the Murrumbidgee in February 2015. At the time of sowing it was a lot lower •The season of 2008 was the smallest rice crop since 1930 with a total of 19,000 tonnes being received, this was a drought year and next to nil water allocation •2013 had a total of 1,160,000 tonnes received, this was a year of 100% water allocation •Average Australian yield is 9 tonne/Ha, some growers have recorded yields as high as 14 tonne/ Ha. The world average is 4 tonne/Ha.

Albury Coleambally Condobolin

Cowra Finley Griffith

Lake Cargelligo Narrandera Parkes

Temora Wagga

Newsletter submissions to:

ISSUE: 3

hr@hutcheonandpearce.com.au

PUBLISHED March 2015

Ph: 0408 745 522

www.hutcheonandpearce.com.au

Hutcheon & Pearce - High Performance

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