TEACHING and imparting knowledge gained from decades working the land is something Norm Kerle would love to do more often.
The farmer gave a talk on sunflowers and how to grow them at a men’s group that meets at the Rosewood Anglican Church recently.
“I told the men how to grow sunflowers, the nutrients that are required and how I harvest them,” he said.
“Even things like the pests I have and what I use to get rid of them is something the men were keen to know more about.”
He also went into some depth about the agritourism side of things and how his sunflowers attracted social media snappers and how photographers used it as a shoot location.
It is more than just sunflowers Norm is excited about, he’d like to build a large shed on his Mt Walker property and set up an historic exhibition showcasing his tractor collection.
He recently had two hip replacement surgeries and said his ‘new aftermarket parts’ enabled him to move without pain and gain a ‘smart idea’ in the process.
He said it’s something he has in common with his tractors because machinery that gets new parts also becomes more productive as well.
The ‘smart idea’ was to share the history he’d learned and the 15 or so Fordson tractors he’d collected with visitors to his part of the Scenic Rim.
“I’d love to put up a big shed, line them all up and get busloads of people coming in,” he said.
“We’ve had heaps of people come here to look at the sunflowers and gained a bit of publicity in that regard.
“I’d like to build on that but with the tractors and their history.”
Mr Kerle’s interest in tractors began in 1952 when his father bought the neighbouring farm and was using draughthorses to plough it.
“My dad went to Modern Motors in Ipswich and bought a brand new petrol/kero e27n Fordson tractor with everything on it and a three furrow plough, and drove it home at three-miles-an-hour,” he recalled.
“When he started ploughing all the neighbours would call in because it was the first three-point linkage tractor in the district.
“It was by driving this tractor that I learned how to drive.”
Since then he has been an avid collector of tractors and their history.
“There were 1930 model tractors that were grey with orange wheels,” he said.
“When the German bombers came flying overhead they stuck out real well in the middle of a paddock.
“Word has it when they saw a German bomber coming the farmer would jump off and run, if the bomber didn’t bomb it, they’d have to race after it to catch it before it got to the end of the farm.
“So the 1940 one, which I have, was painted olive green – that’s a Ford tractor olive green so that it blended in with the countryside.”
He’s refurbished the E27N tractor, a blue one with orange wheels.
“There are a lot of stories behind tractors, they were invented to help farmers do farming but the reason why they were painted certain colours is interesting,” he said.
“I have a fair bit of horse drawn equipment here too, there is a lot of interesting history on those horse drawn drag headers, I have about six or seven of those horse drawn drag headers.
“The oldest one I have is a 1907 stripper harvester, it doesn’t cut the heads off, it belts them off ground driven.”
The idea is to have all the old farm machinery on display at his Mount Walker property.
“I was thinking of having a big shed across the track from where the olive chapel is because a lot of people like going to the sunflower patch,” he said.
“We have a mobile toilet there and shade, I want to put up a couple of tables so people can have a picnic in the shade of the olive trees.”
He said his wife Sandra suggested opening the exhibition to school children groups.
“Sandra’s roped me into doing school tours now, this will depend on what the school wants the kids to learn but I can tell them about horse drawn equipment and Ford tractors,” he said.
“I can even tell them about sunflowers and farming in general, other grain crops and even the makeup of the soil.”
