JCB expands new Texas factory plans in response to April tariff hike
Since Donald Trump’s import tariff announcement, the world has been on a wild economic ride.
There's no better recognised brand and trademark than JCB, famous for its bright yellow diggers.
All its 12,000 employees worldwide got a lie-in on Friday October 23, to celebrate the company's founding on that date in 1945, when Joseph Cyril Bamford (JCB) set up a workshop in a lock-up garage in UIttoxeter, UK, making trailers from wartime scrap metal.
Today the company operates 22 factories – 11 in the UK and others in India, US, Brazil and China, annually generating revenue of around 2.7 billion pounds.
Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford marked the milestone: "My first memories of my father were that he was always dreaming up ways of doing things better, as epitomised by the invention of the backhoe loader in 1953, which proved to be a godsend and caused a revolution in the construction industry."
Today backhoe loaders are part of a product portfolio of at least 300 products produced and sold globally -- over 600,000 backhoes since those early days.
The backhoe range alone runs to 40 different models from the compact 1CX to the mighty 5CX.
While the backhoe loader was undoubtedly the building block of the company, diversification over the years saw a move into agriculture, military and industrial products.
On the agricultural front, how many farming operations have had their materials handling revolutionised by a JCB Loadall and their transport operations accelerated by the unique Fastrac that still turns in a credible performance in the paddock?
The business remains privately owned by the original family and still works to the ethos of Mr JCB who said "our customers make payday possible and we need to listen to and work with then closely".
To celebrate the milestone a Platinum Edition 3CX will be built in a limited number of 70, with red buckets, a full white cab and red wheels. They will give JCB followers something to remember: this look was last seen on the 3CIII in 1979.
A technical lab manager for Apata, Phoebe Scherer, has won the Bay of Plenty 2025 Young Grower regional title.
Following heavy rain which caused flooding in parts of Nelson-Tasman and sewerage overflows in Marlborough, the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO Scheme) is urging homeowners and tenants to be cautious when cleaning up and to take the right steps to support claims.
Newly elected Federated Farmers meat and wool group chair Richard Dawkins says he will continue the great work done his predecessor Toby Williams.
Hosted by ginger dynamo Te Radar, the Fieldays Innovation Award Winners Event put the spotlight on the agricultural industry's most promising ideas.
According to DairyNZ's latest Econ Tracker update, there has been a rise in the forecast breakeven milk price for the 2025/26 season.
Despite the rain and a liberal coating of mud, engines roared, and the 50th Fieldays Tractor Pull Competition drew crowds of spectators across the four days of the annual event.
OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.
OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.