The Collins family runs Deutz Fahr tractors in its Blackcurrant and dairying business.

02/12/2013

South Canterbury farmer Peter Collins and his family run a diversified farm operation on more than 800 hectares near Pareora. The farm is one of New Zealand’s most successful blackcurrant producers and now includes major new $10 million dairy operation.

Peter is also the country’s largest operator of Deutz Fahr tractors. He runs seven of the green machines.

Two of Peter’s sons also work in the family business. Hamish looks after the stock side of the operation, and Brent runs the blackcurrants.

The Collins have their own factory for processing blackcurrants, with a blast freezing plant capable of processing five tonnes of berries an hour. The majority of its production is exported to Japan.

Until recently, most of the property was used for a fattening operation, finishing some 3,500 steers annually for Silverfern Farms.

Now they have converted to dairy. Peter says Hamish and Brent were not keen at first but after they thought about it, the whole family decided to have a go.

A 60-bale rotary milking shed has been built and there are now 900 cows on the property. They also have two other leased grazing properties.

The next phase of development will be a massive cow barn that will house all the older cows, while the younger stock will graze the pastures. Peter says housing the older cows should result in higher milk production.

Over the years, the Collins family has run a variety of makes of tractors but Peter says they have now opted to have an exclusively Deutz Fahr fleet because they are more reliable, more economic and easier to operate than any other brand.

He also appreciates the high level of service and support they receive from Ross Dawbin and the team at Power Farming Timaru.

“With our previous tractors, we used to have a lot of breakdowns. We first tried Deutz Fahr years ago, and we couldn’t believe the traction that we got from them even though they were only 110hp machines,” he says.

“I was keen to go all Deutz Fahr, and we now run seven. Our two orchard tractors are used mainly for mulching and spraying in the blackcurrants. We have three of the 200hp models and two of the big 300hp machines.

“Our bigger ones are doing 600 to 800 hours a year, and they’ve been trouble-free for us. With our feeding situation we’ve got to have reliability.

“And we’re very happy with their fuel consumption, which I reckon is phenomenal. We have competitions to see who can do the best, and I’ve been as low at 10 litres an hour while feeding. These tractors have been marvellous.”