Forage wagons raising the bar to new levels
Giltrap's newest forage wagons, the G-Max Series, is backed by more than five decades of experience that raises the bar to new levels.
Labradors and Kiwi farmers love water, the former for swimming and the latter for ballasting tractors by filling the tyres with the stuff.
Granted water is cheap, but carting one tonne of it in each rear tyre when not required can be a drag on acceleration, degrade tyres and raise fuel consumption because, let’s be honest, once it’s in, it stays in.
Now comes a new range of ballast gear offered by Giltrap Agrizone, Cambridge, from the French company Althimasse; they offer interesting solutions slightly outside the norm.
For loader tractors – often the target of rear tyre water fills – a 900 or 1500kg cast steel counterweight will help bring things under control.
It will also allow the use of rear-mounted implements via its fixed, integral three-point-linkage system.
This added weight, plus a quick hitch, will allow a feed trailer to be towed, a workable solution around a feed pad.
The same units can also be used as counterweights for front-mounting to balance rear implements; they have hi-visibility extremity-marking panels.
Also designed for front-mounting is a neat system sculpted to fit between the tractor’s front link arms and embodying an adjustable mounting system. This has a base weight of 900kg and an extra cassette system to raise the mass by a further 300kg.
Further combinations can take maximum capacity to 2400kg.
Interestingly, the cassette can be picked up or dropped off quickly and safely from the tractor seat.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
OPINION: The world is bracing for a trade war between the two biggest economies.
OPINION: Should Greenpeace be stripped of their charitable status? Farmers say yes.
OPINION: After years of financial turmoil, Canterbury milk processor Synlait is now back in business.