Editorial: Agri's mojo is back
OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.
While New Zealand is the land of the bale feeder that cleverly unrolls a bale in the paddock, much feed is wasted when stock trample it on the ground.
So there's a place for simple, low-tech stock feeders, as made by QC Engineering, Napier, and sold under the AgBrand and Red Barns brands.
The company offers a broad range of styles from basic 1.6m diameter units, with 12 positions and capable of feeding 30 animals, to larger units of heavier construction and wider access points, that can accommodate bull beef animals over 24 months of age.
A range of rectangular and oval feeders will suit larger mobs, can hold up to three large round bales, and suit feeding out hay or silage as supplements for animals feeding on break crops such as fodder beet or kale.
The company also manufactures modular feed fences useful for constructing feed pads, and accessories such as liners for round units, allowing meal, pellets or nuts to be fed efficiently, and covers for feeders used in inclement conditions.
All construction uses heavy gauge steel for the framing, and quality galvanising for a long, trouble-free life.
Units are easily broken down for movement or storage and use a bolt or removable pin system to fix panels together.
The modular design can be extended to meet changing situations or number changes, and is easily customisable around farm buildings and feed-pads.
Holstein Friesian excellence was front and centre at the 2025 Holstein Friesian NZ (HFNZ) Awards, held recently in Invercargill.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
This past week has seen another round of negotiations between India and New Zealand to produce a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
The Infrastructure Commission has endorsed a plan by Chorus to expand fibre broadband to 95% of New Zealand much to the delight of rural women.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.