72 | RURAL SERVICES » Pritchard Agricultural Contracting / Shannon Ag Second generation Getting higher yields Kelly Deeks Kelly Deeks Now in its 18th season of operation, Pritchard Agricultural Contracting Services at Oruanui near Taupo has recently passed on to the second generation, with Rhys and Sam Pritchard progressively buying out their parents and company founders over the past five years. Rhys and Sam have been running Pritchard Agricultural Contracting Services for many years and Rhys says it’s business as usual. “Our customers are still dealing with the same people,” he says. “Sam and I have been putting our stamp on the business over the past five years, growing some of our services and carrying a few more staff through the season.” Pritchard Agricultural Contracting Services has a strong focus on making round bales and pit silage, and planting crops and grass. The business operates a modern and reliable range of specialty machinery to get each job completed quickly and efficiently. “Our extensive line-up of machines saves our customers the huge investment required to be able to do the same work themselves,” Rhys says. The fleet has played a large part in allowing Pritchard Agricultural Contracting Services to provide regular work for its team through the winter. Working in collaboration with Thomas Earth Shaping and Earth Moving, Pritchard Agricultural Contracting Services provides labour and machinery for a variety of earthmoving projects throughout the Central Plateau. Specialist cultivation contractor Shannon Ag is dedicated to maximising Manawatu farmers’ crops with the use of minimal intervention cultivation methods which enables them to achieve higher yields and greater profitability both sustainably and efficiently. Led by passionate and dynamic entrepreneur Johnny Shannon, Shannon Ag has been running one of the only single-pass strip till machines in the Manawatu since 2022. Single-pass strip till is a soil conservation system which prepares soil and applies fertiliser and slug bait in a single pass. It provides a combination of the benefits of conventional tillage and no-till, and it can save time and money while reducing soil compaction and erosion. Single-pass strip till reduces the number of times a tractor needs to pass over the field, saving both fuel and time, while disturbing less soil to preserve moisture levels and maintain a high-yielding soil structure. Untilled strips help prevent soil erosion and compaction, and with organic material kept on the surface, weed growth between rows is limited. The single-pass process also warms up the seeding line to improve germination. “We believe in working with nature, not against it,” Johnny says. “Our minimal intervention cultivation methods reduce the impact on your soils, help to grow more resilient crops, and are proven to boost yields, ensuring farmers get the best return on their investment.” Johnny plants a fair amount of maize with his single-pass strip till machine and despite a very farmer-friendly season, this market in particular Pritchard Agricultural Contracting Services stands in good stead. A few clients have also engaged Pritchard Agricultural Contracting Services to feed out through the winter. “That’s a service that works really well for the client relationships. We’re always there so they don’t forget about us, and if any other jobs need doing on farm we can get straight on to it.” Rhys and Sam have been growing the loader wagon side of the business, taking it from a couple of months post-cropping to now a practically full time gig for three to four months of the year. This growth has been facilitated by another close collaboration between Pritchard Agricultural Contracting Services and Philip Parry Contracting in the South Waikato. Providing half a crew each, both companies have not had to grow too big in order to provide a timely service of scale for local farmers. “It works very well in a situation like this when it’s gone dry,” Rhys says. “We don’t have to stress out with so many machines parked up.” While it is currently dry, last year’s excellent weather conditions and great growing season provided a surplus of bales, so the dry means these are starting to move. With such a long-standing business, Pritchard Agricultural Contracting Services stands in good stead to work its way through all the highs and lows the industry has to offer. “We have the capacity and experience to get through a large amount of work in a short period of time,” he says. “We pride ourselves on being timely, and farmers can be confident of a quality product at the end of it.” Need support on yours? Give us a call for a free consultation on howwe could help you. 44 Te Heuheu Street Taupo | 07 376 1700 info@strettons.co.nz | facebook.com/strettons Proud to be supporting Pritchard Agricultural Contracting Services Ltd on their business journey. 160-300 hp 150 - 550 mm 4AG SUPERGRUBBER SIMPLE & FAST | REMOVE COMPACTION | INCREASED DRAINAGE 0800 424 100 4AG.CO.NZ Your cultivation contractor, helping farmers to maximise crop profit with minimal intervention cultivation methods Full Cultivation | Sub-soiling | Direct Drilling Roller Drilling | Strip-Till Precision Planting Contact Johnny 027 513 7552 www.shannonag.nz has been slow in 2024/25. “The area I’m planting has dropped due to an oversupply of maize from 2023, and the price farmers are getting for their maize isn’t stacking up against the cost of growing it. Hopefully this year, with a nice high milk payout, farmers are starting to realise they need more feed so we’ll be able to flush out the surplus and see some more demand by spring.” As a Manawatu local, Johnny has come off a family sheep and beef farm and pursued his love of farm machinery into a diesel mechanic’s apprenticeship, followed by five years’ service at Norwood Palmerston North. When the local Paul Linklater of Agrilink Contracting designed and built the one-pass strip till machine with the aim of reducing the cost of growing maize and fodder beet crops, he got out of the contracting game in 2022 to focus on delivering this market-leading technology to market. Johnny bought Paul’s machine and has never looked back. “We team our precision cultivation power-driven strip till with a Vaderstad tempo and Bednar front hopper to apply starter fertiliser, seed, and slug bait directly on to the plant line in one pass,” he says. “This method is both cheaper and quicker than conventional cultivation and better for the soil structure and when it comes to harvest time, the ground is firmer minimising damage to the paddock and making it easier for regrassing in autumn.” Shannon Ag also helps local farmers with their direct drilling and general cultivation requirements. Deeply familiar with the local climate, soil conditions, and market demands, Johnny can customise his cultivation solutions to meet farmers’ specific demands.
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