| 73 Working in close collaboration with farmers Since summer of 2020/21, Hunter Contracting has been flat out. Kelly Deeks Hunter Contracting is a busy family business providing top quality boom spraying services across Central Otago with owners Matt Hunter and Georgia Parker working in close collaboration with farmers and their agronomists to ensure crops as good or better than those growing on their own Teviot Valley farm. Having worked as a sprayer driver almost since leaving school, Matt saw some room in the local market for another contractor and went out on his own in 2020. “Our tractor and sprayer were the last things to come off the ships before they stopped coming for Covid,” Georgia says. “We were really lucky, otherwise the business would have folded before it even got started!” With his reputation for quality work preceding him, it only took about 10 months until Matt was so busy at Hunter Contracting that he needed Georgia to give up her shepherding role and join him spraying. Since summer of 2020/21, Hunter Contracting has been flat out and with Georgia now pregnant with the couple’s first child, due in May, and having to avoid exposure to chemicals, this season they employed an experienced driver from the UK to help out. “We are using the Resolution Farm Management system and it’s been a game changer,” Georgia says. “Now we have a worker, its so easy to create jobs for him on Resolution, He knows which paddocks to go to when, and what needs to go on. In our spray truck we use the Ag Leader system which is a very intelligent piece of kit. It knows who is driving, what chemicals are in the truck, the date and time and application rate. We can then put all of that information on to Resolution where the farmer has access to all the data they need to be able to make informed decisions.” Georgia says today’s agricultural spraying industry is seeing a shift in farm owner generations, with the older generation stepping back and the younger generation stepping forward. Consequently, the use of technology is becoming more common, as regulations become more strict. “People are taking proof of placement into account a lot more, and this season in particular a lot of our clients have been using the Resolution app. It’s a great system to use alongside our clients to help them get the best out of their farming operation.” Running both a tractor and a truck, Hunter Contracting sprays on farms near and far, steep and flat. The truck is ideal for covering large, open paddocks quickly and efficiently, and allows for faster transport between farms, while the tractor is suited for smaller or uneven paddocks with sloping or soft ground. Hunter Contracting needs another vehicle on the road to keep up with demand, but experienced drivers with availability are hard to come by locally. Matt and Georgia like to do a perfect job for each and every client, and those high standards take RURAL SERVICES » Hunter Contracting “Now we have a worker, its so easy to create jobs for him on Resolution, He knows which paddocks to go to when, and what needs to go on.” The Team at Agrispray are proudly supporting Hunter Contracting. Agrispray advises on and supplies a full range of farm inputs. Local for locals. time to instill. “We treat every farm we work on like it’s our own, and their crops have to be as good or better than our own. It’s not a five minute training session, it’s a process that has to be done a certain way, and it takes time to learn to do it the way we do it.” Running both a tractor and a truck, Hunter Contracting sprays on farms near and far, steep and flat.
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