Farmers Weekly (Feilding, NZ)

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.

1 week ago | farmersweekly.co.nz | Gerhard Uys

Reading Time: 5 minutesClinton dairy farmers Mark and Madeline Anderson say a system change has been good for them, their cows and the land. The family has a long history on the farm, with their children being the sixth generation. It was originally a mixed system, until Anderson’s father shifted to dairy in 1995. The farm went through a series of expansions, adding more land, another dairy farm and more cows. By 2017 they were milking over 900 cows, up from an initial 650.

2 weeks ago | farmersweekly.co.nz | Rebecca Greaves

Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Fairlight Foundation’s unique internship programme for women is providing a launchpad for future leaders in agriculture, and has the potential to be replicated by other industries in the food and fibre sector, an independent report has found. The report, carried out by Dr Lesley Petersen and funded by the Food and Fibre Centre of Vocational Excellence, evaluated the impact, relevance and sustainability of the Fairlight Foundation internship programme.

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.