Technology key to finding efficiencies for May Brothers Contracting

Technology is at the heart of how May Brothers Contracting continues to find efficiency gains in an increasingly competitive industry. For Phil and Tim May, who operate around the Methven area in Canterbury on New Zealand’s South Island, investing in the right machinery with the right technology has underpinned their ability to deliver reliable service at scale.

Since launching May Brothers Contracting as teenagers 17 years ago, the brothers have built the business from a single second-hand 1986 Hesston windrower into a diverse fleet of more than 30 John Deere tractors, complemented by combine harvesters, forage harvesters and windrowers. Their rise has been shaped not only by ambition and hard work, but also by a clear strategy: blend a strong sense of innovation with a willingness to seize opportunities as they come. Today, they are well known throughout Canterbury for servicing the region’s small grains, forage and grass seed industries while also growing potatoes for a major international company.

Phil said much of their success has been driven by the ability to streamline operations, monitor costs closely and deliver a cost-effective service – all made possible by equipping their fleet with JDLink and John Deere Operations Center. Having real-time insights into machine performance has become critical.

“A lot has changed over 17-odd years,” Phil said. “As far as technology goes, everything is so much more efficient – and it's right there on your phone. We've always got to be managing our costs when we're running machinery and Ops Center shows us how efficient the machines are, our working times, idle times and how much fuel is getting burnt. It has transport as well, so we can see how much time we're spending on the roads. Having these capabilities means we can factor all of that into what we're charging and offer a cost-effective service.”

The technology has also transformed how quickly and easily data can be accessed and acted upon. Phil pointed to the difference yield mapping makes to decision-making, particularly now that data can be delivered to the office without any manual handling.

He recalled how not too long ago, yield maps required downloading information from the machine onto a USB stick and then transferring it to a desktop computer. “Now, you’ve got all the benefits of sending information from the forage harvester straight back to the office. I wouldn’t look back; this is a lot more user-friendly and all remote – it’s brilliant.”

As the business has grown, the value of machine connectivity has extended well beyond day-to-day monitoring, it’s also helped to significantly reduce downtime. Phil and Tim grew up knowing Pete Etheridge from the local dealership, Drummond & Etheridge which has operated in Ashburton for half a century. The personal connection remains strong, but what stands out now is how the technology keeps both the contractor and the dealership in sync.

“You do business with the dealership, but it’s people who make the business,” Phil said. “Knowing Pete has been a big part of our John Deere background. The ability for the machines to send error codes to the dealership often means that when we phone to tell them we’ve had a breakdown, Drummond & Etheridge are almost one step ahead of us.”

While it’s difficult to put a precise figure on the return from connectivity, Phil said the time savings alone make the investment worthwhile. With detailed, real-time data on fleet performance and crop conditions decisions can be made faster and more confidently, reducing costly delays and improving overall productivity.

The brothers’ most recent upgrade to their machinery lineup is a John Deere X9 1100 Combine Harvester, which had its first run during the last harvest season. It’s already been put through its paces in a variety of crops, including ryegrass, rapeseed, kale seed, wheat and barley and the results have been impressive.

“We’ve only done the one harvest with the X9 so far, but the performance in cereal crops is probably twice the capacity of anything we’ve ever owned,” Phil said. “They (John Deere) spend a lot of money on R&D and they’re working years ahead of where we are today; they’re already onto the next thing.”

For May Brothers Contracting, embracing that forward momentum and the technology that comes with it continues to be a key part of staying competitive and keeping pace with the demands of modern contracting. Whether it’s the ability to predict downtime, manage fuel usage, monitor yields remotely or simply move faster between jobs the tools now at their fingertips are making a real difference on the ground.