Gerald Piddock

1 week ago | farmersweekly.co.nz | Gerald Piddock

Reading Time: 2 minutesNorth Island rural contractors are hopeful that high commodity prices and low supplementary feed reserves will see more work for them this season after a challenging 12 months. It is lining up to be a great season for contractors, Rural Contractors New Zealand (RCNZ) president Clinton Carroll said after a roadshow event in Hamilton. “But it depends on the weather. We say this so many times with contracting – we are so weather dependent.

1 week ago | farmersweekly.co.nz | Gerald Piddock

Reading Time: < 1 minuteA new evapotranspiration sensor that allows farmers to be better informed when making irrigation decisions won the Growth & Scale Award at the Fieldays Innovation Awards. Developed by Wellington company CropX, the Evato 1 measures and monitors water evapotranspiration for irrigated crops and pastures, conveying the information to farmers and growers on the system’s online dashboard.

2 weeks ago | farmersweekly.co.nz | Gerald Piddock

Reading Time: 3 minutesRuminant Biotech and Mīti were big winners at the Fieldays Innovation Awards, receiving the Prototype Award and Early-Stage Award, respectively. Rounding out the winners were CropX, whose Evato 1 product won the Growth & Scale Award, and St Paul’s Collegiate School, who won the Young Innovator Award with KiwiPrune. There were five short-listed finalists in each awards category, who had their entries judged by a panel of 18 sector experts on June 11.

2 weeks ago | farmersweekly.co.nz | Gerald Piddock

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe government’s senior ministers have paid tribute to the primary sector for leading the country’s economic recovery as new data shows export revenue is forecast to reach almost $60 billion. The record result for the year ending June 30, forecast in the latest Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI) report, is $3bn higher than projected in December. It had been forecast to reach $65.7bn by 2029.

2 weeks ago | farmersweekly.co.nz | Gerald Piddock

Reading Time: 2 minutesA nationwide DairyNZ survey shows farmers have an increasingly positive outlook about their future, with the vast majority proud to be working in the sector. The View from the Cowshed report released at Fieldays showed nearly 85% are proud to work in the sector, and over three-quarters believe the outlook for dairying will remain stable or improve over the next three years – signalling a lift in confidence despite ongoing challenges.