Crushing performances in SA leading to increased yields

Shallow limestone provides its share of challenges for farmers on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, but an increasing number of primary producers have found a machine to renovate the land and increase yields.

Southern YP sixth-generation farming brothers Hugh and George Murdoch are two of them, having recently purchased a Rocks Gone H4 Reefinator to transform previously inarable areas into crops – mainly benefitting their lentil and wheat yields.

The three-metre wide H4 Reefinator has a levelling blade, four front row and five rear row hydraulic tines, and a following ribbed drum. It weighs 28 tonnes when filled with water and digging up to 600mm deep. It works much like a cheese grater, removing manageable pieces of rock as multiple passes are completed.

Related: Automation comes to H4 Reefinator rock crusher

“A lot of our paddocks have shallow sheeting limestone that didn’t produce a whole lot, including rocky outcrops which we were sowing around,” Hugh said.

“We believe reefinating is very worthwhile, as we have been able to achieve significant yield gains, improve our field efficiency and increase the value of our land.

“We have found that as our rock is bouldery and very hard, it doesn’t break-up into gravel. This has meant that as we have gained experience with the machine, our renovation process has evolved.

“We are now also rock picking all the areas we reefinate with a Elho Scorpio Rock Picker, which removes the stones that are larger than a golf ball. This is a time-consuming process, but once it’s done the finished area is suitable for growing lentils.

“Our focus has been on un-arable areas which we previously had not cropped, but now these are complete. We are beginning to renovate shallow, yield limiting areas across the farm.”

The latest H4 Reefinator has automatic depth and slip control technology, which allows easier operation and helps relieve the demands on tractors.

Suitable for ISOBUS and GPS-integrated tractors, the automatic Rocks Gone Depth Master system calculates speed over ground and tractor load or wheel slip to adjust machine depth up to 50 times per second, as well as the level of its blade. In conjunction with GPS guidance systems, it also can produce depth maps of worked areas, helping to limit any extra passes to specific areas.

The Murdochs pull their H4 Reefinator up to 9km/h with a 615hp New Holland T9615 tractor/

“We’ve completed our fourth summer with the machine and done about 1800 hours,” Hugh said.

“Fortunately, we have only had to do minor repairs so far, but it is very hard on the tyres. So we are definitely interested in the automation technology – it sounds really good.

“Depending on how hard and dense the limestone is, we change a set of points every six to 30 hours. The leading edges last quite a while. Following Rocks Gone’s advice, we purchased a second set with the machine, which allows us to update the spare, hard-faced parts if necessary.”