Machinery decisions at scale: lessons from Walyoo Farm, Dandaragan

A RiskWi$e Case Study — Mark Drake, Farm Manager

By Simon Kruger, WMG Project Communications Officer

Walyoo Farm runs approximately 5,150 hectares of predominantly light white and grey sands with some red loamy sand and gravel country near Dandaragan. The rotation covers lupins, wheat, barley and canola, with long-term average wheat yields around 3.2 t/ha and canola around 2.15 t/ha. Mark Drake manages the property with a permanent team of three, drawing in casuals for seeding and harvest.

Walyoo is part of the Lawson Grains portfolio, which operates across 11 farms in Australia. Major plant including headers and sprayers moves between properties as seasonal workloads demand. That shared fleet context shapes how machinery decisions are made at Walyoo, and it is worth keeping in mind when reading through the approaches described here. Some will translate directly to other farm businesses. Others are specific to operating within a larger corporate structure.

Investment priority: seeding timeliness

Across Walyoo’s operation, seeding has become the primary focus of machinery investment. In 2023, Lawson Grains increased its seeding capital at Walyoo after the existing setup was not getting crops established within the target window.

The reasoning behind that priority is practical. Most operational delays can be addressed later in the season. A missed or compressed sowing window generally cannot. That logic drives where new technology and automation investment is evaluated first.

How replacement decisions are made

Machinery replacement at Walyoo sits within Lawson Grains’ annual capital expenditure process rather than at farm level. Each year, farm managers submit requests and supporting data. Head office analysts build financial models incorporating trade-in values, new machine prices, projected running costs and expected movements in the used machinery market over the coming 12 months.

Requests are reviewed by the general manager and CEO in October and November, then go to the board in December, with approvals typically coming through in mid to late December.

The metrics that feed into those decisions are specific:

• Engine and work hours, including rotor hours on headers and spray hours on sprayers
• Current market value
• Estimated repair and maintenance cost for the coming 12 months
• Forward-looking assessment of used machinery market conditions

The market analysis draws on online sales platforms, auction results and dealer pricing. The question being asked is not just whether a machine needs replacing, but whether now is the right time to sell given where prices are heading. Mark’s role is to provide accurate hours, realistic repair estimates and current quotes. The financial modelling sits with head office.

One practical constraint in this model: approvals landing in mid to late December leave limited time to order and receive machinery needed by January or February, unless the dealer already has stock available. That is a known limitation of the annual cycle.

Capital efficiency in practice

Walyoo runs both a self-propelled sprayer and a tug-along unit with a 10,000 litre tank. The tug-along cost around $220,000, compared with approximately $1.2 million for a self-propelled machine. The self-propelled travels faster, but the larger tank on the tug-along means fewer refill stops. In practice, daily hectares covered by each machine are often similar.

When capital cost, interest, depreciation and replacement are considered alongside output, the tug-along represents a different value proposition to the self-propelled, one that is worth examining in the context of any operation where capital tied up in plant is a consideration.

Walyoo’s internal machinery cost figure for 2024 was around $713 per hectare. Mark notes that within Lawson Grains’ benchmarking, Walyoo sits at a lower machinery investment level than some comparable operations, which he attributes largely to the shared fleet model rather than any difference in operational demands.

Utilisation as a management metric

One area where Lawson Grains uses data in a practical way is tracking engine hours against productive work hours. Mark gave the example of a sprayer showing 216 engine hours but only around 150 spray hours in a season, roughly 70% utilisation against an internal target closer to 75%.

That gap, made up of filling time, idling, turning and operational delays, prompted a practical change: modifying the sprayer plumbing so the engine can be off during part of the filling process, reducing unnecessary engine hours without affecting spraying capacity.

The metric itself, engine hours versus productive hours, is relatively straightforward to track on modern machinery and gives a more complete picture of how hard a machine is actually working than hectares per day alone.

Automation: current use and realistic expectations

Walyoo currently uses turn automation on seeding tractors, camera-based header automation, and depth sensing and control on the deep ripper. The deep ripper system addresses a specific, known problem: ensuring the implement is in the ground at the correct depth consistently, regardless of operator attention at any given moment.

Mark’s broader view on automation is measured. Systems that assist consistency and reduce the likelihood of operator error are where he sees the most immediate value, particularly given the reliance on casual and relatively inexperienced staff at peak times. Full autonomy is a different proposition. Current systems have real limitations around sensor and camera reliability in dusty conditions, and they cannot detect many mechanical problems. Skilled operators remain necessary.

Training and support capacity through dealerships and service providers is a constraint Mark flags as significant. The availability of technology is moving faster than the infrastructure to support growers in using it well.

Some broader considerations

The Lawson Grains approach to machinery investment reflects the discipline that comes with operating across a large portfolio: decisions modelled rather than made on feel, replacement timing informed by market analysis, and a shared fleet that keeps capital requirements lower than a fully self-contained operation would demand.

The trade-off is farm-level flexibility. When Walyoo needs to respond quickly to operational pressure, the options are sharing machines between properties or contracting, rather than rapid purchasing decisions.

The metrics and decision frameworks described here, productive hours versus engine hours, forward-looking market analysis, cost per hectare as a reporting tool, are applicable well beyond a corporate farming context. How they are used will depend on the scale and structure of each individual business.

Acknowledgements

This case study was produced through WMG’s involvement in the RiskWi$e National Risk Management Initiative, led nationally by CSIRO and by GGA in WA and funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation. WMG thanks Mark Drake and Lawson Grains for their continued participation and engagement.