Calga is also a vast acre of land in the shadow of the Warrumbungle mountain range. Warrumbungles are a major contributor to the success of the farming operation on this property. The mountains not only attract precipitation events that allow us to consistently perform the local area in terms of yield, but also provide the magnificent volcanic soils for which the property is famous.
We now plant up to 13,000 hectares a year in both winter and summer crops. Winter products are Wheat, Barley, Chickpea, Broad Bean and Canola. Our main summer crop is Grain Sorghum.
The operation is run as a Scratch farming system only. This significantly increased productivity and reduced workload. This significantly increased productivity and reduced workload.
We currently use three 36m Haynes Spray rigs pulled by JCB Fastrac tractors. Our tractors Caterpillar Challengers are equipped with Beeline Auto steering systems and tow 36m Multiplanters. At harvest time, we use 4 CLAAS Lexion 770T combines with 45 ft frontage so we can harvest ourselves and not be at the mercy of contractors.
We have a storage capacity of 15,000 tons of grain on our farm, which not only relieves pressure on grain deliveries at harvest time, but also allows us to market our products at our leisure, taking advantage of seasonal fluctuations. We can store up to 6,000 tons in 2 granaries, which gives us flexibility with our marketing. Two 1100-ton Kotzur drying silos with a drying capacity of 700 tons were installed in 2012, which will allow us to further increase the efficiency of grain processing and marketing. A certified Warbar scale with road train capacity has also been installed to increase grain processing efficiency.
