Ploughing Champs success
Sean Leslie and Casey Tilson from Middlemarch, with horses Beau and Dough, took out the Rural News Horse Plough award at the Power Farming NZ Ploughing Championships at Horotiu, near Hamilton, on April 13-14.
The World Ploughing Championships have just concluded in Denmark and New Zealand entrants acquitted themselves well.
Blenheim’s Ian Woolley in the conventional plough division finished eleventh overall, after finishing fifth in the stubble ploughing on the first day and 16th in the grassland ploughing on the second day. He also gained a special prize for the ploughman who finishes highest in his first World Ploughing Championships.
In the reversible ploughing division, Malcolm Taylor of Putaruru finished eighteenth overall, after finishing twentieth in the stubble and sixteenth in the grassland section.
Both the New Zealanders were competing against ploughmen and women from 30 countries.
They will both again represent NZ in the 2016 World Championships at Coventry in the UK.
Meanwhile, Rotorua’s Colin Millar was appointed president of the World Ploughing Organisation. He has been vice president for three years.
According to ASB, Fonterra's plan to sell it's Anchor and Mainlands brands could inject $4.5 billion in additional spending into the economy.
New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.
The climate of uncertainty and market fragmentation that currently characterises the global economy suggests that many of the European agricultural machinery manufacturers will be looking for new markets.
Dignitaries from all walks of life – the governor general, politicians past and present, Maoridom- including the Maori Queen, church leaders, the primary sector and family and friends packed Our Lady of Kapiti’s Catholic church in Paraparaumu on Thursday October 23 to pay tribute to former prime Minister, Jim Bolger who died last week.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Todd McClay is encouraging farmers, growers, and foresters not to take unnecessary risks, asking that they heed weather warnings today.
With nearly two million underutilised dairy calves born annually and the beef price outlook strong, New Zealand’s opportunity to build a scalable dairy-beef system is now.

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