Editorial: Agri's mojo is back
OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.
Norwood Farm Machinery Centre has been appointed the preferred distributor of Croplands spray equipment in New Zealand.
Norwoods will handle sales, service and parts support, while Croplands provides extended technical and sprayer-specific expertise.
Aimed at developing the higher-end market in agriculture, where emerging technologies are bringing benefits in application, product usage and ultimately cost reduction, the partnership will cover all Croplands products from knapsack to self-propelled machines; but the deal will exclude some viticulture-specific machines subject to a separate agreement.
Sales and service training are now complete and plans are in place to visit supplier factories in Europe later in the year to investigate customisation of large mounted and trailed machines specifically for the NZ market.
Greg Small, area sales manager for Croplands, comments, "Norwood and Croplands share a common cultural identity and have similar visions, which starts with openness, which has already seen us share details of the 35+ development projects we are currently working on.
"The agreement will give Croplands a level of consistency across the country and will allow us to offer higher levels of service and an increased product range."
Holstein Friesian excellence was front and centre at the 2025 Holstein Friesian NZ (HFNZ) Awards, held recently in Invercargill.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
This past week has seen another round of negotiations between India and New Zealand to produce a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
The Infrastructure Commission has endorsed a plan by Chorus to expand fibre broadband to 95% of New Zealand much to the delight of rural women.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.
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