$52,500 fine for effluent mismanagement
A Taupiri farming company has been convicted and fined $52,500 in the Hamilton District Court for the unlawful discharge of dairy effluent into the environment.
Toplink Machinery exhibited at National Fieldays the Tramspread contractor unit, a self-contained system that enables one-man operation and the ability to arrive on farm, set up quickly and spread effluent, then pack up and move to the next job.
Built around a tandem-axle box section trailer, the unit comprises a 900L priming/holding tank initially primed via a vacuum pump driven by a small Honda engine.
The main pumping unit, a Bauer SX2000, has 150mm inlet and twin 125mm delivery outlets, and offers a typical output of 120-130m3/hour depending on material consistency and terrain. This unit is driven by a reconditioned John Deere engine typically sourced from a combine breaker in the UK.
At the front of the unit cradles carry the twin spool of delivery pipe, each with a capacity of 1000m of 100-125mm pipe or 600m of 150mm. Connection is then onwards to a tractor linkage mounted dribble bar assembly in the paddock.
For one man operation an optional remote-control system for the pumping station is offered.
Once the field work is completed, a 170m3 compressor system takes care of blowing out the lines, before the move to the next job.
Spread far and wide
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.