A Central West grain grower who bought the first model of its kind stone crusher has managed to increase his arable land area by 15 per cent.
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Peter Bajlum, who owns the 467-hectare The Troffs, Trundle, has converted 247ha of rocky outcrop into arable land with a TMC Cancela TXS-250 stone crusher.
"We've gone from a paddock that we couldn't use for anything to productive farm land, and that is the aim of the game," he said.
"Land near (Trundle) is getting around $2000 an acre so for 100 acres that is $200,000 worth of land sitting here that I'm paying interest on that isn't producing anything.
"Before using the crusher, we had about 80pc arable land, but now we're up to approximately 95pc, and that to me is a huge help.
"If you can unlock and extra 10pc of your property by using the crusher, it may cost you upfront, but in the long run it is worth it."
Mr Bajlum said he became passionate about turning something that was previously nothing into something.
"I've got no doubt that we can grow stuff here as there is nothing wrong with our dirt, so turning this block into something is the goal," he said.
"During winter we sprayed the block out and managed to get the dry grass burnt off so we had a clean slate to start with.
"Now we're mulching rocks from 300 millimetres in diameter down to about 30mm at a depth of 150mm.
"Having some of the greenery and rock go into the soil will add a little bit of organic matter back into it."
A majority of the rock on Mr Bajlum's property is limestone.
"We've done a lot of tests near Cowra in harder rock," he said.
Mr Bajlum said he wanted to show people what the machine could do, as he admits he was initially sceptical.
"I think it is incredible that the machine can do it all in just one pass," he said
"I wasn't sure about it to begin with, but after doing my own demos with it, the machine is just amazing.
"We aim for a speed of about 1.5 to 2 kilometres per hour which gives me about an acre an hour."
The stone crusher cost Mr Bajlum about $80,000, but compared to the price of purchasing new land, he considers it a good investment.
"A lot of people ask what it costs, contracting wise, we're working on about $350 to $400 an hour depending on the hardness of the rock," he said.
"However, we don't exactly know what the wear out will be like yet, (but) it should get approximately 400 hours."
While Mr Bajlum does not expect a huge yield on the improved block next year, he recognises the opportunity for the land's future success.
"We hope to put in either a wheat or barley crop to begin with, but we're pretty excited," he said.