In our July edition of ‘Flame Of The Month,’ we chatted with Matt Richards about his mixed farming operation - D & C Richards & Co
Tell us about your farm?
It’s a mixed farming operation, 65% cropping 35% merino sheep. Crops are Lupins, Oats, Barley and Wheat, with Canola planted on years with an early start or early season subsoil moisture. Needless to say, no Canola this year.
And you’ve recently purchased one of our units? We purchased our very first Accufire in February of this year! We have been very impressed with the simplicity, safety and precision. With the amount of windrow burning that we had this year, we purchased another unit, to make the task quicker and easier again. It has proved to be a winning combination.
Tell us about your weed management system?
Windrow burning has become an integral part of our farming operation, particularly after the pre -emergent chemicals ran out of steam last year, and late fine leaf weed germinations occurred. This left us little options, except to windrow and use a ' Integrated Weed Management ' mechanical means of attempting to control our weeds.
Last year where we implemented a structured weed elimination process and used right rotated chemicals, we had certain paddocks under control. As we know in farming, no two seasons are the same and last year was no exception. With the late weed emergence, it became a no brainer to have a bigger crack at windrow burning, particularly with the known success of the Accufire to make the job easier, quicker and safer.
And…
We love our Accufire units, they’ve taken burning from a job that had to be done, to a job where we look forward to using the units. Our experience with Accufire has allowed us to take our fire lighting to another level, it’s safe & simple. Again this has made the job much easier and safer and more enjoyable! .