Brandt: Why Geelong Cats star Jeremy Cameron chooses John Deere for on-farm jobs

AFL star forward Jeremy Cameron puts a team of green machines through its paces on his Freshwater Creek farm.

Jeremy Cameron with his new John Deere excavator.

This is an Ag Gear special advertising feature brought to The Weekly Times readers by Brandt.

When he isn’t on the footy oval, Geelong Cats forward, Jeremy Cameron, is busy maintaining his rural property

After a hard training session or a high-tension AFL game, there’s nothing Jeremy Cameron likes more than jumping on his tractor or firing up his excavator and getting to work on his farm at Freshwater Creek.

The 50-acre property requires ongoing maintenance – there are always fences to be fixed, water pipes to be laid, hay bales to be moved around, and cattle and sheep to be cared for.

To do the heavy lifting and digging, Jeremy relies on some John Deere compact construction machinery – most recently an E18ZS compact excavator from Brandt.

Jeremy Cameron in an excavator.

Jeremy’s relationship with the John Deere brand stretches back to his childhood in Dartmoor, close to the South Australian border.

“My family had five acres with a few sheep but my grandfather had just over 100 acres and he ran a few sheep and cattle. I’d go there as a kid and help round up the sheep. I remember John Deere from those days,” he says.

“I love being on the land – I spent 10 years of my footy career in Sydney and coming back to Geelong, buying this place and having space and freedom around me is great. That’s my work-life balance. After a long day I start the tractor or excavator and get a job done because I’m happiest when I’m outdoors.”

After buying his farm about 18 months ago, Jeremy bought some steers and, in February this year, he bought 23 ewes and a ram. At the moment, he’s busy lambing.

To maintain the farm, Jeremy first bought a John Deere zero turn mower from his local Brandt branch in Colac. About six months later, he returned to Brandt and invested in a 5055E tractor. Compact and agile with high manoeuvrability, he’s relied on it to help clean up the farm, pull out old red gum stumps and move hay bales around the property.

“I practically live on that machine! It’s a great piece of equipment because there are so many things you can do with it. I’m looking at purchasing a slasher before summer for when the grass gets up,” he says.

Cameron with a Brandt agent.

A few months ago, Jeremy took delivery of a John Deere E18ZS compact excavator from Brandt’s Ballarat branch.

“It’s a ripper of a machine – I’d never driven one until it was dropped off at the farm but it’s simple to use. I’ve used it to dig in some piping leading from the main tank to troughs around the property and the spreader on the back is handy when I have limestone dropped off to spread,” he says.

The John Deere excavator has a load-sensing hydraulic system and a variable width undercarriage that can be hydraulically retracted to access the kinds of tight spaces that would normally only be accessible to do manual work with a shovel. It also features a zero-tail-swing design so the machine can be rotated in compact areas.

“I love how reliable and versatile the John Deere equipment is and the service and support provided by Brandt is also amazing,” says Jeremy.

“The Brandt specialists are often farmers or they own rural properties so they know what to do if something doesn’t go according to plan. In no time at all, they are on site to help you and make sure you are good to go again.

“They always have plenty of equipment available when you need it, too, and there’s always something new coming out. The technology evolves each year.

“Down the track, when I eventually retire from football, I wouldn’t mind looking for a bigger property and going into farming and I’d need a bigger tractor then. But for now, I’m very happy mucking around on my farm and playing with the equipment I have.”

To find out more, visit Brandt here.