Fieldays hold out the begging bowl
OPINION: When someone says “we don’t want a handout, we need a hand up” it usually means they have both palms out and they want your money.
New on the Gallagher site at the National Fieldays will be its TW series of weigh scales and its insulated line posts.
The TW-1 and TW-3 weigh scales replace the W810 and W610 models and embody a complete re-design; they are engineered to match the way farmers interact with tablets and smartphones.
The TW series has a touch-screen user interface, ensuring ‘in the field’ weighing can be simply accessed without the use of confusing navigation or menu pathways.
The scales have software systems easily connected and compatible with loadbars and readers irrespective of brand, and they connect to Gallagher’s own Animal Performance Software (APS) system to provide easy access to reports on individual animals.
All data recorded in the field can be uploaded into the APS software. Links via wi-fi or Bluetooth can connect the user’s cellphone and bring up the Gallagher Dashboard software, giving a quick view of crucial top line data and removing the need to enter data twice.
The company’s new insulated line posts have a polyethylene sheath with a strong flexible inner fibreglass core, enabling them to bend without breaking and so minimising injury to livestock.
Available in four different heights, the posts offer a full system for fencing sheep, cattle, horses and deer.
Advanced plastics technology and the nifty design of the posts’ ground anchoring foot, plus the flexible solid fibreglass core component, make the system easy to set up and very robust.
Meanwhile, battery or solar powered MB Energisers, based on the proven i series Energisers – the new ones are called MB1800i and MB2800i – provide the option of mains or solar battery charging in remote non-powered locations.
The MB1800i delivers 18 joules of stored energy, sufficient power for almost 80ha; the MB2800i will be effective over 120ha.
For small farms, the new S40 and S100 Energisers offer a low cost solar means of powering fence systems.
Gallagher says the insulated end strainer is a likely item for anyone considering a new energiser. These improve on the traditional end strainer; they have an insulated body, a 12 tooth spool for fine adjustment and an integrated joint clamp.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change would be “a really dumb move”.
The University of Waikato has broken ground on its new medical school building.
Undoubtedly the doyen of rural culture, always with a wry smile, our favourite ginger ninja, Te Radar, in conjunction with his wife Ruth Spencer, has recently released an enchanting, yet educational read centred around rural New Zealand in one hundred objects.
Farmers are being urged to keep on top of measures to control Cysticerus ovis - or sheep measles - following a spike in infection rates.
For more than 50 years, Waireka Research Station at New Plymouth has been a hub for globally important trials of fungicides, insecticides and herbicides, carried out on 16ha of orderly flat plots hedged for protection against the strong winds that sweep in from New Zealand’s west coast.
There's a special sort of energy at the East Coast Farming Expo, especially when it comes to youth.