The synergies involved in Dalby Outdoor and Machinery’s takeover of the Sunstate Ag organisation makes it an especially good fit for both producers and the rapidly expanding DOM empire.

Its principal, Pat O’Brian, said the acquisition of the Case dealership in Toowoomba and Dalby would not involve redundancies, rather enhance the new organination’s business footprint due to the accumulated experience of a 50-strong workforce.

Broadacre producers have closely tracked the rise and rise of DOM which started up about four years ago, culminating in it now being the world’s largest distributor of the North American-built range of Miller self-propelled sprayers.

Adding the Case IH tractor and header franchise is a logical move, according to Mr O’Brien.

"We’ll remain privately-owned and I believe, contrary to what a lot of people are saying, there’s a good future in agriculture - as evidenced by this acquisition," he said.

Meanwhile, the Queensland-based GPS guidance and steering systems business AgGuide also was attracting producer interest, following news that it has been acquired by Farmscan.

The company, based in Perth, says it is now better-placed to accelerate its existing research and development programmes by as much as two years.

Queensland farmers have taken on board AgGuide’s reputation for its 'hands-free’' steering and GPS guidance technology, including 2cm Real Time Kinematic (RTK) precision guidance, for tractors, plus a range of other machines and implements.

"We’ll now be a much bigger player in the business, plus we’re an Australian company," AgGuide’s Steve Hanlon said.

With broadacre producers coming off the back of a good season and encouraging prospects for this year’s winter and summer crops, there was a spring in the step of much of Queensland’s agribusiness industry.

The first-time appearance of Balzer’s giant 50t capacity chaser bin demonstrated that producers need big equipment to maximise their outputs in the face of an increasingly hard-to-get farm labour force.

The theme of mechanisation on a grand scale is already taxing the minds of McCormack Industries and Manitou Australia who are cooperating on a prototype handling attachment.

It’s needed for the in-paddock work associated with John Deere’s latest cotton picker which builds round cotton modules – a system which slashes the amount of labour needed at harvest.