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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.
Buying more land used to be the default answer.
If a block wasn’t pulling its weight, you added another one. But with land prices up and margins tighter, that equation has changed. Expansion now comes with higher capital costs, longer payback periods, and greater 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 drainage issues, that’s margin you’re losing every season.”
Rather than expanding sideways, Charles says farmers 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 supplies terrain management systems to 30 countries. Its technology is designed and manufactured primarily in Australia, with a dealer network supporting growers locally and overseas. That global footprint has grown steadily off the back of broadacre grain, cotton, and irrigation systems where precision drainage makes the difference.
The company’s newest system, Level COMMAND™, is its next-generation automatic implement control 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 typically 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 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 COMMAND™ is a foundational step toward that. But right now, it’s about making what you already farm perform better,” says Charles.
Why Level COMMAND™?
- Agnostic system that works across mixed fleets — build on the GPS and tractors you already own
- Compatible with most major GNSS brands and hydraulic systems
- Up and running quickly with straightforward installation
- Intuitive in-cab interface that keeps jobs simple and clear
- Handles single or tandem scraper setups
- Controls cross slope using a single receiver on the implement
- Supports a wide range of file types and digital designs
- Built-in remote support backed by an experienced dealer network
email: info@t3rra.com
website: https://t3rra.com/
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
