The Ortmeiers have farmed in the Scribner area for decades. The 3,000 acre farm, specializing in corn, soybeans, alfalfa and feeder cattle, was originally run by the patriarch of the Ortmeier family.
Today his three grandsons, Dave, John and Allan Ort-meier, run the operation along with the help of Dave’s wife and a few part-time employees during harvest.
Since the time their grandpa plowed and harvested those same fields, the farm has had a strong tradition using John Deere equipment. That is, until the Ortmeier brothers recently rolled a LEXION 580R combine onto the fields for a test drive.
After the demo, the Ortmeiers discovered the Lexion combine proved to have greater capacity in wet corn than the John Deere equipment. The combine was purchased from Kragh Johnson, their NMC Ag sales representative, during the 2007 harvest.
“So far the LEXION has proven to be unbeatable. We’ve run it right next to a Deere and there’s no comparison.”
According to Dave Ortmeier, “So far the LEXION has proven to be unbeatable. We’ve run it right next to a Deere and there’s no comparison. Right now the LEXION has around 200 hours on it – which is about 35 less than we would’ve run the Deere because of the bigger capacity.”
In addition to being happy with their buying experience through NMC, the Ortmeiers are also pleased with the product support service. Dave said, “We haven’t needed a lot of maintenance yet – but Jordan Hellbusch and Bruce Grubb are easy to get a hold of and they get things taken care of quickly.” The Ortmeiers are also planning to add the Auto-Guide™ Satellite Navigation system to their equipment.
The adaptability of the system was an important factor – it can be used on either their LEXION combine or their MT835 Challenger track tractor. Dave pointed out the other major benefit of the system, “The savings. If we reduce overlapping materials by just 30 inches, that savings will pay for the system in just one season.”
It wasn’t easy for the Ortmeier farm to switch colors. Dave said, “After running John Deere equipment since I was this big – I didn’t sleep a couple nights after buying CAT. We’ve been green forever. But, we’re happy with the decision.”
Published in The Connection Volume 2 Issue 2
