Landini Rex 4 vineyard tractor series debuts in NZ
The Landini Rex 4 Series, recently released in New Zealand, is designed with vineyards in mind.
With slurry and dairy effluent being recognised as an asset by most farmers, it makes sense to have it applied in a way that makes the most of the nutrients carried within.
Indeed, by considering it a fertiliser, it should be applied as any other dressing.
German effluent specialists Vogelsang has provided equipment for many years, either attached to a tanker or via an umbilical system, so took the opportunity at the recent LAMMA Show in the UK to display its new 24m BacPac Umbilical ground-level application boom with section control and variable rate flow meter.
At the heart of the BacPac unit is a Krohne flow meter, while Section Control is achieved by the inflation of small balloons in the feed pipes to the part of the boom that needs to be switched off, a valve system said to be unique to the company.
The system is ISOBUS compatible so may be used with prescription mapping or, in the future, a Near Infra Red (NIR) sensor such as John Deere's harvest lab.
The company was also showing its DoubleFlow shoe which splits the flow of slurry, delivering two lines at 12.5cm apart, rather than a larger, more typical layout at 25cm spacing. The company claims this will help achieve a more even distribution of slurry, as well as increasing the surface area in contact with the soil and air, thereby accelerating absorption by the soil and faster aerobic breakdown of the product.
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The DoubleFlow shoe splits the flow of slurry, delivering two lines at 12.5cm apart. |
Vogelsang notes that the greatest number of complaints about ground spreading is that the process can leave unabsorbed slurry on the surface that can lead to contamination of the cut sward and in severe cases, kill off the grass. By spreading material thinner, this problem is largely avoided.
The double runner system will be available for the UniSpread and BlackBird trailing shoe linkage series from May 2024 and can also be retrofitted to older machines.
On the eve of his departure from Federated Farmers board, Richard McIntyre is thanking farmers for their support and words of encouragement during his stint as a farmer advocate.
A project reducing strains and sprains on farm has won the Innovation category in the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards 2025.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), in partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and other sector organisations, has launched a national survey to understand better the impact of facial eczema (FE) on farmers.
One of New Zealand's latest and largest agrivoltaics farm Te Herenga o Te Rā is delivering clean renewable energy while preserving the land's agricultural value for sheep grazing under the modules.
Global food company Nestle’s chair Paul Bulcke will step down at its next annual meeting in April 2026.
Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki has been announced as the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the National Sustainability Showcase at in Wellington this evening.
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