Shearing legend hooked on CanAm
Sir David Fagan, world-renowned competitive sheep shearer with 642 shearing titles worldwide and a knighthood to his name, now runs beef and dairy operations near Te Kuiti with wife Wendy and son Jack.
The judges at last year’s Agritechnica event picked the Italian-built Landini Rex 4-120GT Robo- Shift Dynamic as the Best of Specialised category at its Tractor of the Year 2024 Awards.
The judges noted the tractor had “raised the bar for specialised vineyard and orchard tractors”. The model features a robo-shift transmission, 48 forward and 16 reverse gears with electro-hydraulic reverse shuttle and four fully robotised driving gears. All of which can be operated in automatic or sequential mode through a joystick.
The Rex 4-120GT is also the first specialised tractor with a suspended cab to provide additional comfort to drivers. Interestingly, the dynamic version features an autonomous driving system option that allows, with the help of integrated sensors, automatic parallel driving between rows.
Meanwhile, an example from the company’s red McCormick camp was also a winner – taking out Tractor of the Year’s Best Utility section. The McCormick X5.120 P3-Drive was described as “the ideal utility vehicle for daily use on the farm”.
Featuring a 3.6-litre, 4-cylinder, 16-valve, Stage V compliant FPT F36 engine, the range offers 95 to 114hp with maximum torque to 460 Newton metres.
Its main new feature is the P3-Drive transmission: 36+12 or 48+16 with creeper, designed and manufactured entirely in-house by Argo Tractors.
Newly appointed National Fieldays chief executive Richard Lindroos says his team is ready, excited and looking forward to delivering the four-day event next month.
More than 70 farmers from across the North and South Islands recently spent a dayand- a-half learning new business management and planning skills at Rabobank Ag Pathways Programmes held in Invercargill, Ashburton and Hawera.
Government ministers cannot miss the ‘SOS’ – save our sheep call - from New Zealand farmers.
A tax advisory specialist is hailing a 20% tax deduction to spur business asset purchases as a golden opportunity for agribusiness.
Sheep and beef farmers have voted to approve Beef + Lamb New Zealand signing an operational agreement between the agricultural sector and the Government on foot and mouth disease readiness and response.
The head of the New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers organisation NZKGI says the points raised in a report about the sector by Waikato University professor Frank Scrimgeour were not a surprise.
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