John and his wife, Maree, grow about 8000 tonnes of potatoes each year on two irrigated properties based at “Claredale”, 10 km south of Berrigan. Last July, they took delivery of a new GRIMME SE 260 trailed two-row harvester. It combines the gentle digging, superior cleaning and optimised crop flow of the German manufacturer’s popular single-row machines but boasts a throughput of up to 30 tonnes per hour.

“We had been running three single-row machines but we had started to wind back our production in line with our reduced water allocation and as part of our succession plan,” John says. “We had excess capacity so it made sense to go back to a single two-row machine that matched the processing capacity of our shed.

“In effect, one machine is now doing the job of two, which significantly reduces our machinery, operating and labour costs. “We kept one of our single-row machines as a back-up but we haven’t needed it. “We’ve dug about 3000 tonnes with the SE 260 and it hasn’t missed a beat.”

All SE models feature a secondary elevator, which incorporates a hedgehog web and a triple scraper roller for extra separation of soil and fines from the tubers. The long main web provides efficient sieving, while the wide deviner web separates haulm from the tubers over its entire length. Active running sidebars and reduced drop heights throughout the machine ensure smooth and gentle transfer. A load-dependant control system automatically adjusts separator and picking web speed without operator input.

The six tonne unloading bunker features a soft floor and pockets in the bunker cloth for rapid yet gentle unloading. Mounted on wide 800/45-30.5 tyres, the 9.2 tonne harvester is easily pulled by John’s 200 horsepower tractor. John has been using GRIMME potato harvesting, planting and handling equipment for almost 40 years.

“I got my first harvester – a repossessed Europa Super – back in 1983,” he says. “I bought it on the spot, loaded it back to Berrigan and harvested 40 tonnes of potatoes that day. “Before that I had been using an Australian-made machine that could only harvest 10 tonnes a day, so it was a pretty good investment.”

Impressed by its performance and reliability of the harvester and the high standard of service provided by its Australian distributor, Landpower, John has continued to purchase GRIMME machinery ever since. “This is my 13th GRIMME harvester,” he says. “They are a great product backed by great service, so I have never had a reason to change.”

John says he is impressed by the advances in harvesting technology, particularly the ease of use of today’s machines. “There’s a lot of technology in the harvesters these days,” he says. “We’ve had two-row harvesters before but the older models needed quite of bit of skill to operate. “We had to stick our arm out the back of the tractor and pull various hydraulic levers.

“Everything is enclosed in the cab and it’s as simple as pressing a couple of buttons to enter or exit the row.”

John particularly likes the user-friendly controller, which also monitors harvesting flow using six cameras mounted on the harvester. “It’s quite handy to keep an eye on critical areas in the potato harvesting line, such as the webs and separators, so you can adjust the speed of the tractor to best match conditions in the harvester,” he says.

“You can locate problems or potential blockages by watching the slip monitors on the control box and then using the camera to zoom in.

“Technology like this has helped to keep us farming by increasing our productivity and efficiency.”

Harvested potatoes are transported back to the shed via three trucks fitted with 25 tonne D-CAM bulk produce bins, which self-unload into a GRIMME RH12 Compact-Combi receiving hopper, and in turn, a GRIMME SL125 store loader.

Both machines are designed to work seamlessly together and incorporate the same principles of smooth crop flow, gentle handling and high throughput found on GRIMME harvesters. John saw the Compact Combi during a trip to Germany about 10 years ago and immediately recognised its potential for one-pass shed processing and loading. “It still takes a team of four people to grade the potatoes but at least they are out of the sun and working on a stable surface instead of working on a moving machine out in the paddock,” he says. “What I really like about the Combi is its simplicity and reliability. “Anyone can run it – especially if I can!

The speed of the cleaning elevator, picking table, screen rollers and store loader can be independently adjusted using the central controller, which also sequentially starts and stops each function. The combination is capable of processing and loading more than 30 tonnes per hour, allowing seamless ‘just in time’ harvesting and dispatch. “Our potatoes are harvested in the morning, transported to Sydney or Ballarat that afternoon and processed the next day,” John says. “The processor tells us when the trucks will arrive and we organise our harvesting and grading schedule to make sure they are loaded and on their way within the hour.

“We typically load four B-doubles a day – about 160 tonnes – so we simply can’t afford breakdowns. “The Landpower team in Melbourne are terrific in that regard. “We can usually sort out most problems over the phone but just recently, I had a glitch with coordinating the Combi and the store loader and a Landpower technician was here the next day.” “In addition, we proactively service all of our machines throughout the year to keep them as new as possible.”

Other equipment in John’s machinery pool includes a GRIMME GL 660 six-cup potato planter, which achieves accurate planting at high operating speeds, and a CLAAS SCORPION 6030 telehandler.

John’s passion for all things GRIMME even extends to his faithful work companion, an eight-year-old Schnauzer x Jack Russell cross. “When he was a pup, he was always digging things up so we thought Grimme was great name for him,” he says.

“He’s even met Philipp Grimme (the younger son of the company’s fourth-generation managing director, Franz Grimme), when he visited here a couple of years ago!”

Raised in Melbourne, John attended Dookie Agricultural College after leaving school and began working for the Rennie family in north-east Victoria. After an extended period working overseas and in Western Australia, John and Maree moved to the Berrigan district in 1982 as share-farmers with the Rennies.

They purchased their own block in 1987 and gradually increased the size of their annual potato crop from 16 ha to almost 375 ha at one stage. “When we started, there were used to be 30 potato growers around here,” John says. “Now there’s just four left but we’re growing the same amount of potatoes.

“It’s pretty amazing when you realise you are growing enough potatoes to feed 300,000 people each year.”

John and Maree are now actively downsizing their operation, with one of their daughters, Hannah, and her husband, Tom Kelly, taking over half of the potato enterprise on two family holdings at Savernake and Tocumwal. Their other daughter, Bridget, and her husband, Paddy Ryan, have taken over a 160 ha beef property at Benalla.

GRIMME is the world’s leading manufacturer of potato, beet and vegetable planting, harvesting and handling technology.

Established in Germany in 1861, the family-owned company employs more than 2200 people and operates in more than 120 countries.