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.
After a comprehensive three-year development and testing period, Projecta has launched a new 12V lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄) battery range, suitable for agriculture and off-road applications.
While this is a new product category for Projecta, the company has extensive lithium iron phosphate know-how through products such as jump starters and work lights, where similar technology is applied.
The range’s LiFePO₄ chemistry is the safest lithium technology available and makes the new Projecta batteries inherently much safer than lithium cobalt competitors, a performance measure that was proven during in-house testing.
Said to be inherently safer than other lithium cobalt configurations, Projecta’s lithium batteries also feature a builtin battery management system, which offers protection in the event of under/overvoltage and over/underheating, alongside monitoring individual cell voltages and balancing when required.
Another key benefit of the Projecta lithium battery range is its longevity. It can deliver over 2000 cycles, up to eight times more than lead acid batteries. An extended life offsets the initial higher cost of a lithium battery, as well as reducing waste.
Offered in two models, the LB100 delivers a true 100- amp discharge current, capable of powering 1000W inverters as well as a fridge and is equivalent to a 160Ah lead acid battery. Users needing greater power can select the high discharge LB100-BT, which delivers an impressive 150-amp discharge current, capable of powering 2000W inverters.
The LB100-BT allows owners to monitor the battery status via smartphone or tablet using Bluetooth, with information including voltage, current, state of charge and any alarms that may have occurred.
Both batteries are housed within traditional N70 casings allowing easy fitment within engine bays, with the benefit of only weighing around one third the weight of equivalent lead acid batteries.
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).
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