Stihl Launches BT140, Its First Battery-Powered Auger
With battery tools becoming more widespread and more importantly, productive and reliable, it was only time before we saw augers or post-hole borers.
While war in Ukraine caused a marked increase in the cost of inorganic fertilisers, many manufacturers were already taking steps to increase their product range to make better use of organic manures and effluent.
From March 2022, German cultivation specialists Lemken has announced that its Heliodor compact disc harrow will be available with a preparation set for attaching a Vogelsang DosiMat DMX precision spreader, resulting in a combination that will offer precise low-loss spreading and incorporation of slurry and effluents.
The Heliodor cultivator is compact and low draught, said to place little demand on the tractor, while the DosiMat DMX offers an even transverse and longitudinal distribution, alongside the ability to achieve a wide range of application rates.
In operation, slurry or effluent is fed into the DosiMat from above, then chopped and blended by a flow-optimised rotor equipped with cutting blades, and then pushed into the individual outlets.
Fibre and foreign matter are reliably shredded, enabling precise distribution and helping to avoid blockages.
Slurry passes via hoses to the area behind the first row of discs on the cultivator, where it is injected into the soil and immediately incorporated by the second row of discs and the trailing roller without delay, reducing losses or odour.
Farmgate lamb prices are down by 8%, beef cattle by 4.5% and farm expenditure up by 4.2%.
Kiwifruit growers are watchful but remain optimistic as concerns around the potential effects of the El Niño weather pattern this season.
Almond hulls sourced from Australian orchards may have the potential to help New Zealand cows reduce emissions, boost milk yield and lower input costs.
Striking a balance between meeting the needs of industry to speed up approval time for products but on the other hand ensuring that risks are properly assessed.
Surprised, humbled and quite thrilled. That’s the reaction of James Allen, one of the founding partners and now chief executive of AgFirst, on being made a life member of the Institute of Rural Professionals.
OPINION: It seems Canterbury processor Synlait is still in the doldrums.
OPINION: Get offside with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters at your own peril.