SIAFD knocks it out of the park!
While the temperature was struggling to reach about 5 degrees and the horizontal hail had enough grunt to slice cheese, the SIAFD committee knocked it out of the park by delivering another great event.
Launched at the South Island Agricultural Field Days, the Shelbourne Powerspread caught the eyes of the Innovation Competition judges who awarded it first place in the imported machine category.
It is sure to catch the eye of anyone wanting to move solid or liquid manures efficiently.
Built in the UK and imported by Toplink Machinery, the Powerspread is available from 7.5 to 15 tonnes capacity. Comprising a tank through which runs a central rotor with paddles, it takes material fed via a water-tight guillotine style door onto a 1.4m wide overshot discharge impellor.
A simple reversible driveline consisting of two main chains ensures minimal maintenance.
Depending on the consistency of the material a uniform spread pattern of up to 26m can be achieved, and in the event of a blockage the impellor can be lowered away from the main body to clear obstructions.
Targeted at contractors or large scale farmers, the Powerspread Pro 2300 holds about 10.5m3. All up it weighs 11.5 tonnes and can easily be pulled by a tractor of 140hp.
Its low loading height ensures it can be filled easily by tractor frontloaders or telehandlers.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products.
There have been leadership changes at the Hamilton-based Dairy Goat Co-operative, which has been struggling financially in recent years.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
OPINION: In recent years farmers have been crying foul of unworkable and expensive regulations.
Another 16 commercial beef farmers have been selected to take part in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme designed to help drive the uptake of genetics in the industry.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Kiwi exporters will be $100 million better off today as the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into force.