Paddock proof

South Australian farm manager Philip Barr was one of the first customers to run an AF10 through harvest, and for him, it all came down to one thing: getting more done, with less pressure.

Philip Barr, Riverton District

“It was a very hard decision to make because there were no machines in Australia,” Philip says. “You couldn’t actually chew the fat and kick the tyres or take one for a drive.”

After plenty of research, plenty of questions and weighing up the options, he decided to go ahead. Once it was in the paddock, his view sharpened quickly.

“The short end of the story is that it’s magnificent,” he says.

With plenty of travel between blocks, harvest efficiency matters. Philip farms across several properties around Hamley Bridge, Freeling, Alma, Stockport, Riverton and Redbanks, growing wheat, barley, canola, lentils and faba beans.

“The whole reason why we went in this direction was we were one of the last ones to finish harvest in 2024,” he says. “This year, despite not starting until 20 November, the team wrapped up on 24 December. It really sped things up.”

One of his first real signs of the machine’s capacity came in lentils.

“I started off at six kilometres per hour with a 50-foot front,” Philip explains. “Then I was trucking along at 10 kilometres per hour reaping a two-and-a-half-tonne crop and just cruising really.”

Later in stronger crops, that performance only improved.

“Towards Riverton, we were reaping six-tonne crops and doing 70 to 80 tonnes an hour with them,” he says.

Philip says he is still learning some parts of the machine, particularly around automation and fine-tuning settings, but the support has been there when needed.

“Scott couldn’t do enough for me,” he says. “If I asked for it, I got what I wanted.”

Even so, he believes there’s still more to unlock.

“The scary thing is I haven’t even run it to its potential,” Philip says. “There’s no other word for it. It really is magnificent.”