Lochie grew up on his family's Naring farm and watched his father Dave make silage and hay for themselves and other farmers.
Now he has his own contracting business, North Vic Ag Contracting, based around the core service of hay making and with plans to diversify to broader farm contracting.
“At the moment it's hay and silage but I'm working towards doing more tillage and sowing and eventually will get into transport.”
When Country News last visited the Naring property, Lochie was 11 years old and driving an old yellow Chamberlain tractor with a hay rake.
Today he has upgraded to some bigger equipment and now concentrates on putting his experience into practice for customers.
“Ever since I was two, I wanted to do this,” Lochie said.
“But since I was 16 or 17 I've done most jobs with Dad in his contracting business.”
His favourite tools of the trade include the Lely Welger 445 bale wrapper, which he says is easy to repair, has a simple, wide pick-up and produces a tight, solid bale, and an old favourite is the classic New Holland small square baler, which produces a compact bale popular with produce stores.
Also in the shed are the Kuhn Tedder GF6001 for aerating windrowed hay, the Claas rotary rake and Lely Attis silage wrapper.
One thing he has learned is to listen to feedback from customers, and Lochie takes pride in satisfying farmer input.
He is anticipating a big silage season thanks to improved weather conditions over winter, but the spring will dictate how many crops are converted to hay and where the price settles.
Although Lochie spends most of his working time in northern Victoria, he is prepared to travel to pick up work.
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