The Sawchuks manage a mixed farming operation of grain production, hay and cattle. About 1,000 acres are seeded to wheat, barley, oats and canola. A full 640-acre section is split into eight paddocks for rotational grazing by the cow-calf herd with 140 cows. Another 280 acres is in hay production, a mixture of alfalfa, bromegrass and timothy. The Sawchuks also cut and bale extra hay on the rotational grazing paddocks.

If Justin chooses to take over from his Dad, weather probably will be the biggest challenge, Larry says. Winters are long and bitter cold. Unexpected frost in May or August can cut sharply into the growing season, and rainfall is erratic.

“We either get a big splash, or we seem to miss the rain,” Larry says. “It’s always been that way in this area.”

Soils also are variable. The home section has “fairly good” loam soil with a clay bottom. The pasture has six or seven different types of soil, sand and gravel.

“That’s why we have cattle,” Larry explains. “The variables don’t hurt you as much. We try to be diversified.”

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Good advice

Getting good advice is a big component for the small farm’s survival. “We try to get professional advice,” Larry says. “You’ve got to keep updating yourself, because you’ve got to get more efficient all the time.”

When Larry’s New Holland dealer offered him “a premium trade” on the 1997 New Holland 7740 tractor he and Justin had been operating, Larry took the opportunity to upgrade. Larry took delivery of a new TM115 tractor and a 1475 Haybine® mower-conditioner.

Larry says, “The TM is working every day. We feed each day of the year until the cattle go back on grass. Then we use the TM to cut hay, bale hay, stack and haul bales to the feed area for winter. In winter, it picks up the bales and puts them in the bale processor. Our tractor has got to be reliable, because we’ve got to feed every single day.”

Larry says his TM tractor is also used to bale and haul straw, clean pens, move snow, spread fertilizer and operate a vacuum that cleans grain out of bins.

“We haul grain with it, too. We’ve got a 400-bushel hopper box that it pulls. Each combine dumps a hopper into it, and we’ve got a boxful. It’s really good for hauling grain, because it’s got a 25 mph road gear.”

In the first year of use, Larry and Justin put 600 hours on the six-cylinder, 92-hp TM115. “It’s performing really well. We’re happy with the tractor, we’re happy with the mower-conditioner, and we’re happy with the dealer,” Larry says.

It’s 35 miles to the dealership, but that’s not a problem when it comes to service. Larry says, “On a scale of one to ten, I’ve got to rate our dealer above eleven!”

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Younger generation

The tractor upgrade, however, also had a lot to do with Justin.

“He’s the reason we bought the TM115,” Larry says. “He’ll be around a couple of years yet, for sure, so he’ll have good equipment to run. He’s doing all the bouncing out there in the field, so he might as well have something that’s good and comfortable.”

Justin has driven everything on the farm and has lots of baling experience.

“Better equipment makes farming more appealing to me, for sure,” Justin says. “Compared to other tractors, the TM115 is really good to work in. I really like it. It’s quiet and has a good radio and stereo system in the cab. It’s got a very good suspension on it with air ride suspension seats. It’s very smooth to work in.”

Justin does nearly all the baling with the TM tractor operating a New Holland 688 baler. His Dad uses the tractor daily in winter for feedlot chores.

“It’s got faster hydraulics, which is a lot better for hauling bales and making bales,” Justin says. “The baler takes quite a bit of horsepower to run. With this tractor, you can bale at a fairly high speed without worrying about it losing rpm.”

He adds, “The Range Command™ transmission makes shifting gears really easy: you don’t have to clutch. You just press a button to go up or down. Going from forward to reverse is easy, too. Hauling bales on a long day, your feet don’t get tired; it’s the same thing for working with feed in winter.”

Larry adds, “It’s really quiet and easy to use. You don’t have to step on a clutch for baling; you just flip the lever back and forth. You can bale all day. And the lighting is excellent. It’s just like stadium lighting for nighttime.”

Cab comfort is hard to achieve and critical for Manitoba’s conditions. The Sawchuks may be baling in dust and a tailwind at 95° F. in July, they may be mixing feed or hauling bales on hard-packed snow and ice on a dark, windy morning in January at –35° F.

They’ve found the TM115 performs very well under both extremes. “On the hottest day and worst baling conditions, it keeps everything cool,” Larry says. “On the coldest day, it still keeps the driver warm and comfortable.”

Winter, generally, is hard on equipment. “Our tractor sits in an insulated shed for that reason. If it sat outside, it would be hard to get your oil moving,” Larry

Doing chores in winter can take its toll on fuel consumption. Larry figures the TM115 uses two gallons an hour for this kind of feeding work. “That’s quite a bit of fuel savings at the end of a year,” he says, referring to the old standard of three gallons an hour for the same work.

Larry handles the daily chores in winter while his son is in school. He grinds bales once a day and dumps the feed in a long row on the frozen ground so each cow and calf can have access to it. The job takes about one-and-a-half hours every day. Snow comes around the middle of November, often during deer hunting season, and stays to the end of March. Frost penetrates more than six feet deep, going deeper when there’s less snow cover.

Justin and his Dad admit they like their New Holland TM tractor and 688 baler for one more very important reason: they like to play golf.

Larry explains, “We bale for a day or two, then we go golfing! If we had older equipment, or poor capacity, we’d be baling another day and the day after that we’d be fixing. This way, we can go golfing while, we’re waiting for the rest of the hay to dry!”