No-frills fert on offer
Ballance Agri-Nutrients has launched SimplyFert, an ex-hub and therefore lower-cost offering said to give its shareholders choice and flexibility for purchasing nutrients.
The recent cold snap makes it hard to imagine spring is just around the corner, but Tornado fertiliser spreaders from Agriquip should make a breeze of spreading for the new campaign.
Based on a heavy duty, hot dipped galvanised steel frame, the Tornado 1300 looks like it’s built to last, and that the designers have put some thought into how it’s put together.
Any components likely to contact the fertiliser – spreader discs, vanes, guards and hopper shutters – are manufactured from stainless steel; the one piece hopper is made from polyethylene and is quickly removed for access to the guts of the unit to do cleaning or maintenance.
Adjustments are easy: spreaders vanes are adjusted by a single wingnut, and the shutter opening by a threaded nylon rod. Shutter actuation is controlled from the tractor seat by hydraulic rams.
With a hopper capacity of 1300L, one tonne can be loaded easily with little risk of spillage. Spread width, dependent on material, is up to 36m.
The drive to the central and lateral oil-filled gearboxes is by 540rpm PTO, the standard specification includes a galvanised mesh in the upper hopper to remove lumps and foreign objects, and agitators keep fertiliser moving in the lower part.
More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) says securing more China label registrations and developing its own nutritional manufacturing capability are high on its agenda.
Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.
As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.
Livestock can be bred for lower methane emissions while also improving productivity at a rate greater than what the industry is currently achieving, research has shown.
The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.
OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.
OPINION: The Listener's latest piece on winter grazing among Southland dairy farmers leaves much to be desired.