Friday, 17 June 2016 09:49

Crankholder wins Fieldays innovation

Written by Pamela Tipa

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St Paul's Collegiate students received the Young Innovator of the Year Award, presented by Fieldays chief executive Peter Nation, for Crankholder – a trailer attachment that makes drilling post holes safer and more cost efficient.

Nation also on day two presented the Innovations Launch NZ Award to The Wrangler Ltd for their innovation PollenSmart – a machine designed to dispense pollen to increase yield, reduce costs, and optimise timing.

Fieldays visitors were inspired on the Village Green as they heard more about looking after their emotional wellbeing. Doug Avery, The Resilient Farmer, presented in Fieldays Knowledge Series, shared his valuable experience of resilience in industry. Eighteen years ag, Avery turned his life around after suffering from depression for five years. He now hopes sharing his experience will help to stop suicide rates in the agricultural industry from climbing.

This year's NZ Fencing Championships sees local legend Paul Van Beers gun for his 15th WIREMARK Golden Pliers title, before hanging up his tools for the last time. At 4pm today, a celebration will be held in the Village Green to honour Paul and his lifetime achievements in fencing.

Day two at the Kitchen Theatre in Kiwi's Best Kitchen delighted audiences with home cooked meals and helpful tips and tricks. New Zealand's first-ever MasterChef winner, Brett McGregor cooked up a storm at Fieldays and demonstrated his own unique travel inspired dishes.

The dry weather today helped this year's Tractor Pull get off to a roaring start, as the Rural Bachelors completed their latest challenge which put their driving skills to the test.

The new grandstand seating and Good George bar overlooking the site gave visitors a chance to take a break and catch some of the action.
"This year we are up on entry numbers. When we first used this track last year we thought there'd be no way we'd ever fill it up, and now we have no space left," says Andrew Reymer, Tractor Pull Team Leader.

Today sees the Schools' Tractor Pull final at 1pm as Matangi Primary School and Tamahere Model Country School go head to head in what's sure to be an exciting event. Also catch the NZ Young Farmers North Island Debate Final on the Village Green at 3pm for some thought-provoking discussion.