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the australian farmer
Smarter landforming for tighter times
Adding hectares isn’t the only business growth strategy for farmers. Smarter landforming can recover margin, improve efficiency, and deliver quicker returns — whether automation is on your agenda or not.
platform. Softly launched late last year and now being rolled out more broadly, it shifts to a bring-your-own- GPS model. “It’s agnostic, so multi-fleet compatible,” Charles says. “Farmers aren’t locked into one brand, so if you’ve already invested in guidance hardware, you can build on that.” Depending on the machine setup, operators can typ- ically be up and running within hours. While autonomy continues to gather attention across the sector, Charles says terrain optimisation delivers immediate returns. “If autonomy is on your radar, getting the ground right is one of the first steps,” he says. “But even without that, improving surface consistency makes economic sense straight away.” Entry-level pricing for Level COMMAND™ starts at about $20,000 + GST, depending on the GPS equipment paired with it. The system is attracting both growers and
Buying more land used to be the default answer. If a block wasn’t pulling its weight, you added an- other one. But with land prices up and margins tighter, that equation has changed. Expansion now comes with higher capital costs, longer payback periods, and great- er pressure on machinery utilisation. Charles Reynolds, General Manager of landforming software specialist T3RRA, says the smarter play for many growers is to extract more value from the country they already own. “You’ve already made the big investment — the land and the machinery,” he says. “If parts of a paddock are underperforming because of surface variability or drain- age issues, that’s margin you’re losing every season.” Rather than expanding sideways, Charles says farm- ers are looking down — at contour, surface consistency, and water movement. “It’s about improving consistency across the whole paddock. When surfaces are level, machinery runs more efficiently, operators are more productive, and inputs are better utilised.” T3RRA has been operating for 12 years and now sup- plies terrain management systems to 30 countries. Its technology is designed and manufactured primarily in Australia, with a dealer network supporting growers local- ly and overseas. That global footprint has grown steadily off the back of broadacre grain, cotton, and irrigation sys- tems where precision drainage makes the difference. The company’s newest system, Level COMMAND™, is its next-generation automatic implement control
contractors, particularly those looking to offer landforming services across multiple properties and maximise the utilisation of their fleets. There’s a bigger picture in play. “Our goal is to fully automate dirt moving,” Charles says. “Level COM- MAND™ is a foundational step toward that. But right now, it’s about making what you already farm perform better,” says Charles.
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