| 83 Machinery importing well in the mix Allan’s been visiting machinery dealers in several countries these past 7 years and now, it’s a signi cant part of the company. Late August begins with cultivating from winter grazing followed by planting barley. Sue Russell RURAL SERVICES » Chapman Ag One thing a successful agricultural contractor needs in buckets-full is the ability to cope with those things you can’t control: weather being top of the list. Allan Chapman, from Chapman Ag, knows that its necessary to adapt, and adapt quickly, when the weather-gods decide to throw down challenges. When Rural South spoke with the busy owner, who is based in Cust, near Rangiora, in July, work for clients had been impacted by some serious weather events. “Pretty out of control is how I would describe it,” says Allan. His passion for agricultural machinery and providing his large base of clients with all their pasture and cropping needs keeps Allan, the team and the eet of equipment busy most of the year. “I bought my rst harvester and 22 years of age and now I’m turning 50 and during the season we have a team of 10 or 11 guys.” Adding machinery importing into the mix ensures there’s an additional income stream into the business. Allan’s been visiting machinery dealers in several countries these past 7 years and now, it’s a signi - cant part of the company. “From May to the start of August the contracting work is relatively quiet, so that’s my opportunity to head overseas, reconnect with ag machinery suppliers and build new relationships. We regularly go to Germany, England, Ireland, Denmark, and France.” In fact when Rural South spoke with Allan, he had completed two trips to Europe in the previous 5 weeks. Mixing some well-deserved holiday-time into business makes these extensive trips even more worthwhile. Once the season properly gets underway, the week’s y by. Late August begins with cultivating from winter grazing followed by planting barley. This work continues through September. Come October and November, the season is in full swing with silage coming off. “We’re also planting maize and fodder beet and completing upward of 1000ha of precision planting so October and November is our busiest months of the year really. This is followed by processing silage through January and then we jump on the combine harvester in Feb and get underway with processing grain.” Then by the end of March cultivating, grass silage and maize processing see’s the annual cycle of activity through. Allan’s customers extend over a wide footprint, from home-base in Cust, Oxford, Dar eld, Dunsandel, through to the outskirts of Christchurch. “We generally work within a radius of 75km form our base.” Asked whether nding skilled machinery operators presents as an ongoing challenge Allan says generally, through putting plenty of information out on the company’s Facebook page, he always has enough drivers through the busy season. Through COVID, however, Allan admits there were times when he struggled with nding enough drivers. He used this situation as an opportunity to provide some young drivers with work and give them more experience. “When you work for customers for a long time, they expect our high standard of work every time and that’s what is most important from my experience. That we deliver on that standard.” So, through COVID, Allan has returned to working on the machinery. “The customer likes seeing the guy who owns the business on the machines or showing his face on each job. ”While overseas, Allan bought several shipping containers worth of machinery and a bit of gear on RORO also. He says the prices and quality of the gear made it a no-brainer to invest. He relies on word-of-mouth for his farming machinery selling business and ensures his own eet of machines are kept up to date. “It means our pre-used gear is still in very good condition and will deliver plenty of service to customers and it keeps my eet of machines really up-to-date with the latest technologies on board.” And as for the future, Our oldest Jack is not interested in farming but son William coming through into the company and Hugh completing his schooling but interested in operating too, Allan says he’s really happy with the business and what he’s achieved. It’s all enjoyable and very lucky to have a great bunch of very loyal clients. “We work the business pretty hard and that’s how we have achieved what we have.” “The customer likes seeing the guy who owns the business on the machines or showing his face on each job.” Allan Chapman - 03 310 2545 027 221 5264 allan@chapmanag.co.nz • Cultivation and drilling • Precision drilling • Balage rounds, squares, individual and tube • Full Fine chop silage services • Buying and selling of supplement feed • Importing of machinery Services: CHAPMAN AGRICULTURE LTD . On the Farm Mobile Service for all your Tyre requirements No job too BIG or SMALL. 0800 484 725
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