Farming smarter with technology
The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry professionals from across the country.
CNH continues to reinforce its position in the New Zealand agricultural machinery market with the appointment of John Gilbert, previously New Zealand sales manager for CNH Capital, to the new role of business manager for its NZ operations.
The announcement comes as the New Zealand Government unveiled a new round of tax incentives for businesses, including a tax deduction of 20% of the value of new assets.
John Gilbert says, for farmers, the opportunity to fully deduct 20% of the purchase price of new machinery was an attractive incentive and CNH stood ready to assist farmers should they choose to take advantage of it.
“These are certainly exciting times for our agriculture industry, which continues to grow and evolve, and this announcement from the Government will make additional investment in farm businesses more attractive.”
In terms of other incentives for upgrading machinery fleets, Gilbert says New Holland has a finance deal from 0.25% per annum until the end of June, and for those in the market for a new Case IH tractor, there is the chance to win a RAM Laramie truck with any new tractor purchased and delivered before August 31.
“Our New Holland and Case IH dealers are wellplaced to help customers choose a tractor that best suits their needs, and there’s no doubt it’s a good time to move ahead with new machinery purchases.
“I look forward to working with farmers and industry stakeholders in my new role. For CNH, along with our Case IH and New Holland dealers, this is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to farm businesses and the broader agricultural industry.”
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).