Farmers warned to upgrade as 3G shutdown looms
As the clock ticks towards the 3G mobile network shutdown, farmers are being warned to upgrade or risk losing connection to their supply chain.
CNH Industrial has made its first 3-D printed spare parts, showing the farm machinery industry to be right up with emerging new technologies.
The company, whose brands include Case IH, New Holland and Steyr, says the process is “part of a continual drive to streamline manufacturing processes, increase productivity and find more sustainable ways of working”.
3-D printing makes components from a digital file to build up layers of material under control; each completed part is subject to stringent testing to ensure it meets the CNH Industrial specification.
Each ‘printed’ part is created in 24 - 36 hours with optimal use of raw materials -- in contrast to traditional manufacturing processes. 3-D printing causes less waste or surplus material and minimises machine downtime.
Plastic is the manufacturing medium of the moment, but metallic parts are expected to emerge from testing.
A key benefit of 3-D is local, on-demand manufacturing of spare parts, leading to better stock management, particularly if small volumes of uncommon parts are required urgently.
The proposed retrenchment of Heinz Wattied's manufacturing presenced in New Zealand will be a blow to the wallets of more than 200 Canterbury vegetable growers.
The cost of running a New Zealand farm is now 27% higher than it was before Covid, putting sustained pressure on profitability acrfoss the sector, according to new ANZ research.
Rural contractors are getting guidance on how to deal with recent rising fuel prices.
An Ōpunake farmer with a poor effluent system has been fined $35,000 with a discount on the penalty discarded after he charged at a Taranaki Regional Council officer inspecting the ‘systematic problems’ on his farm.
The horticulture sector is under threat because of vulnerabilities of the country's transport infrastructure, according to a report commissioned by a collective representing a range of groups in the sector.
Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dan Boulton says the meat processor wants to find ways of getting product destined for Middle East markets into those markets as opposed to try and place them elsewhere.
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