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.
While a leading New Zealand brand seems to have a stranglehold on the local electric fencing market, a company from the Green Isle seems to be making significant inroads, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere.
Hailing from County Clare in Ireland, Forcefield began as a manufacturer of mains and battery energisers in the 1980s. Since then, they have expanded their range of electric fence systems to include a variety of electric fence testers, solar energisers and a broad range of accessories.
With a head office in Ireland, Forcefield manufacturers most of their products in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, following the acquisition of Zapper Labs in 2017. They have expanded this state-of-the-art factory to facilitate orders for their electric fencing systems from all over the world.
As well as manufacturing their own branded units, the company also manufacture under private label for many of the leading electric fencing brands in Europe & North America.
Forcefield added a further strand to their business in 2023 with the acquisition of Irish company, Boundary Blade; a start-up company that had developed a very clever but simple fence tester which doubles as a pocket-knife, winning many innovation awards.
Forcefield will be showcasing its range of electric fencing energisers and accessories on the Enterprise Ireland stand at Site D67-73.
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).
OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is…
OPINION: Once upon a time the Fieldays were for real farmers, salt of the earth people who thrived on hard…