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AUTOMATION AND MACHINERY
The Great Aussie Ute – still the farmer’s best mate
By Geoff Middleton (with editorial support from Margaret Paton)
From humble beginnings to high-tech workhorses, the Aussie ute has been central to farm life. Here's how it started – and where it’s headed.
ute remains a rural mainstay what- ever size the farming operation. But what it looks like, and what farmers expect from it, is evolving.
Across Australia, stories like Mead- ley’s are common and changing. As the climate shifts, fuel standards tighten, and new models arrive, the
“Could I manage without the ute? Maybe. But it’d be far less efficient; I’d be forever hooking up a trailer, and that’s just not practical,” says Russell Mead- ley, a small-acreage farmer and business advisor based in the Bathurst region. On his 47-acre property, Mead- ley uses a dual-cab, 2004 diesel Ford Courier for just about every- thing: weed control, transporting gear and biological controls, pick- ing up pipes for irrigation, and towing a trailer when needed. It’s fitted out exactly how he needs it – racks, 4WD, and “enough grunt to handle whatever gets thrown in the tray”. “There’s nothing else that’d do the job like it,” he says. “The ute’s perfect for restora- tion work, loading urea, tools, equipment – everything. It gets used and abused, and it han- dles it without worries.” Like many smaller operators, Meadley is eyeing future up- grades – maybe a hybrid one day. But with no mains power on the block and solar still on the wishlist, an electric ute isn’t yet viable.
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