Feed pad with rubber matting hailed as game changer
For Otago farmers Michelle and Rogan Borrie, a newly constructed feed pad on one of their three farms has been a game changer.
Following a four-year collaboration between global giants John Deere and Ford’s sustainable materials team, the duo set out with a goal of developing a prototype vehicle using waste streams converted into viable machine components.
The project brief was to build a Gator light utility vehicle using renewable, recycled, and recyclable materials. According to senior material engineer Keith Shanter, that was difficult because they had to work within the current framework of production tooling.
“We weren’t going to invest in new tooling for a product that won’t actually go to market, but we did everything we could to find sustainable materials that were suitable replacements.”
In the end, the wide variety of different materials used included soya beans for the roof and doors and seat foam. Flax and hemp fibre, wheat straw and maple wood were selected for interior panels and exterior door panels are made from sugar cane with maize cob filler. A rice hull filler was used for the dashboard and the grab handles are made from recycled fishing nets. Also water-sourced, the bonnet was made from plastic bottles pulled from the Mississippi river, while a storage compartment was made from ground coconut, adding to the list of surprising materials used to make this concept Gator.
JD has no plans to take the concept to the production stage, but one component from this project that is in Gators produced today is a defrost louvre made from recycled tyres.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.