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Getting Bigger, Working Smarter

David Brown grew his business so he could spend more time with family.

“My grandfather started buying tractors in the mid-1940s,” says David Brown (above), “and we’ve had nothing but Masseys ever since."

“My grandfather started buying tractors in the mid-1940s,” says David Brown (above), “and we’ve had nothing but Masseys ever since.”

Since David Brown and wife Edith took over the family-owned Brownsville Farms in the 1980s, they’ve increased the number of milking cows from about 80 to 275. Such growth allowed them to hire employees and have more time for their growing family.

The father of four hockey-playing boys explains their rationale: “Sometimes we have to go away for a weekend for tournaments. To do that, you have to have hired help to run the farm, so you can go away. But to justify hired help, you have to be big enough that you can pay the help, right?

“It’s worked out for us, because having great employees, like we do, has allowed us more time to get away from the farm to attend our son’s hockey games, and also to take family vacations.”

David also depends on a fleet of hard-working tractors to help run his 1,400-acre operation. And what was good enough for previous generations of his family’s dairymen is certainly good enough for him.

“My grandfather started buying tractors in the mid-1940s,” David says, “and we’ve had nothing but Masseys ever since. They get the work done around here, and they’re easy to service. We do a lot of that work ourselves, and we like to stick with one brand that we understand.” Of course, he also relies on his dealer, Hall Brothers Enterprises, for help with maintenance on his eight Massey Ferguson tractors, which range in size from a new 6490 to a 399.

“It’s a round-bale operation,” says David of his dairy, “and we put up about 7,000 bales a year. They are fed by tractors, hauled by tractors. We use these smaller loader tractors to clean the barn, and the barns are all scraped by tractors.

“Our operation is pretty much run by tractors, and it’s busy.” he says. “But I don’t kill myself. I like to have a good family life, too.”

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