| 83 Gearing up for the start of a new season Based in Greta Valley, Pankhurst Contracting operates from Amberley through to the Hurunui River, and up to Hawarden. Richard Loader RURAL SERVICES » Pankhurst Contracting As the agricultural contracting season tapers off until late August / early September when cultivation work commences, the time is perfect for machinery maintenance, says Ben Pankhurst, who owns and operates North Canterbury firm Pankhurst Contracting Ltd in partnership with his parents, David and Diane. “We use the time to give all the ag gear a thorough check over, checking bearings, replacing or repairing parts. The idea is that the gear is all in top condition for when the season starts up again. We also do post driving at this time of year, and we’re now doing a bit of vineyard marking with GPS on the tractor too.” Ben was contracted to do his first vineyard marking last year with great success, towing a bar behind the tractor to make scratch lines on the ground, using the GPS and autosteer technology to accurately mark out where the vine posts will go. “The people we did it for last year say they have traditionally done this by hand using wires and said it would have taken three people maybe a week to do what we did in four hours.” Based in Greta Valley, Pankhurst Contracting operates from Amberley through to the Hurunui River, and up to Hawarden — stretching a little further afield on occasion. “We have a lot of loyal customers who have been with us for years, some right from the start. There are a number of clients who are now into the second generation. I’ve lived in the area my whole life. I’ve gone to school with some of the people and grown up with them, so you’re working with friends.” Sheep and beef farmers make up the lion’s share of customers in the region but there are also a number of vineyards in Waipara requiring post driving during those winter months, and there’s a growing number of lifestyle blocks around Amberley which is a growing source of work. The family’s impressive line-up of modern and well-maintained agricultural machinery includes three Case tractors up to 270hp, with a fourth hired during the busy summer season. Two of the tractors run GPS autosteer, making direct drilling between 5% - 10% more accurate, a nice neat job and ultimately saving the client money. A Case Medium Square LBX Bailer sits with a KHUN baler-wrapper combo. Direct drills, roller drills, precision planters for fodder beet, multi-discs and power harrows add to the capability of the business. Ben’s uncle, John Pankhurst, has operated a small mowing business in the region, and for a number of years serviced the Pankhurst’s customers. Now about to retire, he is selling his machinery including a New Holland tractor and a set of KHUN triple mowers, to Pankhurst Contracting, who will continue to service those customers.“With buying John’s machinery we will be looking to consolidate what we’ve got for the foreseeable future. It’s very interesting times for farmers at the moment, who have extremely high input costs, and returns have fallen away a bit for them. It would be nice to see a little bit of growth but I don’t think we will see a lot of new farm development. It will be more maintaining what they have, and making sure we do a really good job of that.” PANKHURST Contracting LTD 35 Greta Road, Greta Valley For cultivation, drilling, hay & baleage David 027 433 7004 Ben 027 677 5882 Diane 027 224 3595 E: d.pankhurst.nz@gmail.com “We have a lot of loyal customers who have been with us for years, some right from the start.”
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