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Norseman Farms has about 6,000 acres in crop. In 2003, they added some registered Angus cattle for the interest of their families who are beginning to farm. Ron has two sons, and Stuart and his wife, Leslie, have two sons and two daughters, ages 13 to 24. Ron says, “If the economy would just stay good, it would be no problem to keep these young guys on the farm.” The Dyrlands can’t change the economy or the weather, but they are doing other things to keep the farm viable and attractive to the next generation. They’re adding cattle and upgrading equipment as much as possible. Their crop regimen has diversified from all wheat, durum or fallow, to include lentils and chickpeas. In 2003, for the first time, the brothers will also try their skills at seeding 320 acres of canola. Soil here is brown in color, Haverhill to a Sceptre heavy clay, but it isn’t easy to farm. It’s actually heavy clay. They farm the soil now with direct seeding air drills to conserve moisture for crops and to minimize erosion. Switch to direct seeding It’s been five years since they switched to direct seeding. Their primary drill is a 60-foot wide Flexi-Coil 7500 Series “Slim” model with variable rate technology. It’s supported with a variable-rate air cart. It takes a lot of power to pull that system up a long slope at 5 mph with 72 openers buried on 10–inch spacing in heavy clay. It’s a double-shoot system with paired rows putting down as much as 200 pounds of fertilizer product in bands beside and below the seed. Their previous tractor was good, but “it just didn’t have the power needed for a job this heavy. Something had to give,” says Ron. Sometimes the fans would slow down. Often, the whole system would be sluggish. The engine was almost always pushed to maximum capacity. Then, the extra wide duals would grab somewhere and hop a few times. “Megaflow™ works great” Then the New Holland TJ450 tractor arrived, and all that changed. “What we really like about the TJ450 is the two hydraulic pumps with Megaflow hydraulics. They work great!” Ron says. The dual hydraulic pumps on the previous tractor, with slightly less horsepower, hadn’t had quite enough kick. He says, “The larger output on this TJ450 worked perfectly for our double fan system. Due to that, we never got any variation in the speed or seeding rate. It made quite a difference. More consistent air is easier on your motors and makes everything work better.”
There’s more to like about the TJ tractor, though, than just the Megaflow hydraulics, says Ron. “We’ve got quite a good power bulge with this,” Ron says. “The other tractor was working all the time and never really got a chance to open up. The TJ is steadier. It gives you a lot more acres in a day.” The TJ came with a Powershift transmission. Between that and the additional power, the system can work at a consistent 5 mph on their fields. Shaun says, “Dad runs the drill pretty much steady. It’s a lot less tiring on the operator, a lot less stressful. You can shift on the go, and this one has that much more power that it handles nicely. They also upgraded the rubber, to a set of triple 46-inch wheels, front and back. Shaun says, “We have a lot more traction, way less compaction, and we don’t get bounce with the triples.” The father-son teams found that many small changes make the TJ more farming-friendly. Shaun says, “We really like the cab. The visibility is excellent. Controls on the armrest are nice. The performance monitor is good for monitoring your fuel consumption and power torque rise. The climate control works well and the six-disc CD changer is nice, too!” Outside the cab, he also compliments the tractor’s designers. Shaun adds, “Maintenance of the tractor is really easy. Everything is set out like you’d think it should be. Everything for routine maintenance is at ground level. The filters are easy to get at and it has long oil change intervals. The fuel tank is larger, and we got better fuel efficiency.” His father adds, “The steering is excellent. It’s a big unit, pulling the drill and the air cart but it turns in a reasonably short radius. The bottomline? Shaun says, “I’m totally happy with it!” Ron adds, “It’s been an excellent choice. It was stressful when you were short of power. It’s a much easier day now; a lot less stress, for sure!” |
