Business Rural Winter 2021

106 | Harvesting wilding Virginia Wright I t’s been about 12 years since Jon and Emma Harmer bought a couple of diggers, a couple of trucks and a grader off Jon’s parents, Jeanette and Jack Harmer. Jon had been running the digger side of things for his Dad since not long after he left school, leav- ing Jack to focus on his preferred bulldozers. “Dad’s had bulldozers his whole life. His father owned Mt. Alford Station and Dad used to do the bulldozing for all the roads round there. So basically we bought one side of the business and he kept going with the other side.” Based in Methven, Jon and Emma’s company is called Harmer Earthmoving Ltd, although their business extends beyond what their name might suggest to include a forestry division with three forestry crews. It seemed like a natural progression to Jon that after a few years of tree removal, when a lot of the surrounding land was being cleared for irrigation purposes, they should start harvesting the mainly wilding pines they were clearing. A few years later that side of things became automated and an already growing side of the business took off. Harmer Earthmoving work directly with Environ- ment Canterbury to make good use of the wilding pines that might previously have been sprayed. “We’re now actually utilising not wasting it so it’s a good news story,” says Jon. “We’re producing upwards of 400 tonne of harvestable wood a day, for local mills, or export, or firewood, depending on the wood. There’s not much left by the time we’ve finished but we windrow what there is so that it can be dealt with at a later date.” As the business got bigger and busier the Harmers moved away from sub-contracting to do it themselves. “I like to manage the guys directly,” RURAL SERVICES » Harmer Earthmoving says Jon. “That way there’s no issue with reliability. We’ve got a loyal team and some of them have been with us for a very long time, so we couldn’t do it without them.” The staff are spread across three Harmer busi- nesses with Emma having two pre-schools, one in Methven and another in Hinds, employing 25 staff; Harmer Earthmoving employs 45, and another 15 working in Mt. Hutt Lime which is the name given to the quarry business they bought some years ago with Jon’s parents Jack and Jeanette. “Between that and Harmer Earthmoving we’d be one of the biggest suppliers and layers of dairy track in Mid-Canterbury,” says Jon. “We lay well over a 100,000 tonne a year.” They lay dairy track all year round, with limestone and claystone from their three quarries, as well as selling to other contractors. One of the quarries produces 97% pure dry lime, eliminating the need to be dried in a coal furnace. It’s used as agricultural lime for paddocks and lime-flour for feed. The latest expansion involves a self-loading crane truck that can carry up to 58 tonnes. “We’ve specifically designed this one to have the crane as well as take 58 tonne grosse, whereas most trucks run at 44 or the new ones at 50, so there’s a wee bit involved in terms of length and wheel spacing and so on. It’s costing a lot but for the same amount of fuel and the same amount of wear and tear that extra weight means less truck movements for carrying the same amount of wood.” Despite the company growth Jon still enjoys taking excavating contracts, his most recent being a civil contract close to home. “We’re doing all the earthworks for the hot pools in Methven. They’re going to be high-end luxury hotpools,” says Jon, “they’ll be great for the town- ship I reckon, good for the tourists and all the locals will be using them too.” “We’re doing all the earthworks for the hot pools in Methven. They’re going to be high-end luxury hotpools – they’ll be great for the township I reckon, good for the tourists and all the locals will be using them too.” Harmer Earthmoving was quickly on the scene after the recent flooding in Mid-Canterbury, cleaning up debris from culverts and bridges. The Methven based contracting business specialises in land conversions, landfill, effluent ponds and systems, irrigation and dams, subdivision, roading, mining and civil works. 197Wills Street, Ashburton Ph: 03 308 6737 Proud to support Harmer Earthmoving Ltd