A positive Fieldays, says Langford
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
Subaru of New Zealand recently struck a deal with Federated Farmers to equip its national territory managers with all-wheel-drive Subarus to help them do their jobs.
Laura Sanford, Feds territory manager team leader and Southland territory manager uses her Subaru Outback 2.5L Premium as her mode of transport and her workplace.
“The Subaru is my office, taking me up and down farm driveways, to farm field days and farmer meetings daily. It’s got plenty of boot space for all our gear, especially banners and flags,” she says.
Based in Invercargill, known for bearing the brunt of New Zealand’s wild weather, Sanford says she is glad to have Subaru’s AWD keeping her safe on the southern roads.
“The Subaru excels on slippery farm access tracks and the loose winding gravel roads of the south-west Fiordland boundary or Southland’s Orepuki - Tuatapere highway.”
She especially likes the car’s integral camera and blind spot warning system built into the wing mirrors.
“This is one of my favourite safety features; passengers in the car are blown away by it, particularly farmers used to driving big utes with large A-pillars that seem to add to the blind spot problem.”
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).