Kurt Torell grew up in the Gresham area where his dad and uncle farmed for years. Today, Kurt and his wife Pam oversee their 3,400 acre operation, T-T Farms, Inc., which produces seed corn for Pioneer Hi-Bred, yellow corn, soybeans and grain sorghum.
Kurt’s dad is now retired, but still offers help and advice when needed. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Kurt said. Also working along side Kurt is their full-time employee, Josh Werth and part-time employee, Ron Schroeder. In addition to managing the 3,400 acres of farm ground, Kurt also specializes in custom work.
According to Kurt, the seed corn industry is growing very fast in the area. “Different companies are finding out that this is good soil, good water – and to speak for the quality of the business own-
ers in the area, they know how to get the job done,” Kurt said. The Pioneer plant they grow for is a 20,000 acre plant. With the seed corn industry growing, Pioneer needed more acres. “We’re utilizing more farmers and their fields. These farmers might not have the right kind of equipment to get the job done, so they ask us to come in and plant for them.”
To get the job done, the Torell farm counts on the equipment and product support from NMC. After experiencing hydraulic problems with a competitive brand, Kurt made the switch to CAT. “There’s
so much more machine with the CAT tractors. When you put them side by side with the competitor, one looks like a toy. The CAT track tractors are an absolute must.” Kurt found that with wheel tractors and ridge till farming, the radial tires make it difficult to control the implement. “The wide stance of the tracks gives you the stability to control the implement with the tractor. With the tracks, the implement doesn’t control the tractor,” Kurt said. The operation also utilizes the Trimble RTK Autopilot™ on their equipment to improve accuracy. “With RTK you can pick out your patterns and you’re right where you need to be. You never have to worry about being off a row. It’s helped tremendously.”
For the last two harvest seasons T-T Farms has counted on the productivity of a Lexion combine. “I can’t say enough good about it.” Fuel usage has also been a plus with the Lexion. “We ran a red combine before and I knew how many acres I could do on a tank of fuel. We’re way better with the Lexion.”
Kurt has had the opportunity to work with several of the NMC locations – including Seward, Doniphan, Lincoln, Norfolk and Columbus. “Everyone has been great. Jason Othmer does a good job – he goes to bat for you,” Kurt said of his Seward Ag sales representative. Also working closely with Kurt is Doniphan Ag product support rep, Rick Kloke and Seward Ag service manager, Deric Riessland.
In addition to two MT765 track tractors and the Lexion combine, the Torell operation also uses a forklift and an older model excavator purchased from NMC. According to Kurt, “The excavator is an ’84 model. We’ll call either Doniphan or Lincoln for parts and they’ll have our serial number on file. We’ll tell them what we need and they’ll have it…and away we go.”
NMC service was put to the test during harvest season when their combine needed a repair. “The guys from Seward were out here with the stuff we needed within two hours. That just floored me. I was just thrilled,” Kurt commented. “We’ve been really satisfied with the product support – they try so hard. You wish everyone you dealt with was that way.”
When asked if he’d recommend NMC and CAT equipment to others, Kurt responded, “Absolutely. I’m just so pleased with the CAT equipment – you know there’s going to be quality there. These are productive machines and that’s what we need.”
T-T Farms strives to do an exceptional job; to get it done right the first time. His willingness to learn new technologies and to continually look for ways to improve efficiency – and his life-long connection to the land that he farms today – make Kurt Torell one of the most successful producers in the area. “Success for me is when new land owners call me to farm their ground and people ask me to do custom work for them. That’s the biggest compliment I can get.”
