Practice, practice, practice as NZ Champs near
The mood is relaxed as father and son ploughmen Paul and Derek Houghton get some practice in, but when the national championship starts this Saturday it will be a different story.
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.
Early on during the event, the team seemed to be a favourite to win, although at the time, Sean told Rural News, "There's still a lot of dirt to tip over yet".
He says finding horses with the right temperament for competition ploughing isn't easy. While Beau and Dough have not been doing it for long, they've proved they have the right stuff.
The rain showers softened up the ground at the Power Farming NZ Ploughing Championships, hosted by the Waikato Ploughing Club, but didn't deter competitors or spectators.
Among the competitors was Tryphena Carter from Southland - an experienced hand in the Fern Energy Silver Plough Conventional class.
She’s been in the sport for a few years now and was one of many competitors who came up from the South Island, where the sport of ploughing is strong.
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Thomas Sime from Outram competing at the Power Farming NZ Ploughing Championships, in the Holmes Solutions Contemporary class. He took a couple of trophies home. |
Competitive ploughing needs more young folk coming through the ranks, so it was also great to see Thomas Sime from Outram not only competing, but also taking home some of the silverware - the 2nd year in a row he has done so.
Other results: First place in the Fern Energy Silver Plough Conventional – Mark Dillon; first in the Pioneer Reversible – Bob Mehrtens. These two will represent New Zealand at the 70th World Ploughing Contest in the Czech Republic in 2025.
Many farmers around the country are taking advantage of the high dairy payout to get maximum production out of their cows.
In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.
Sheep milk processor Maui Milk is on track to record average ewe production of 500 litres by 2030, says outgoing chief executive Greg Hamill.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton is calling for cross-party consensus on the country's overarching environmental goals.
Changes to New Zealand’s postal service has left rural communities disappointed.
Alliance is urging its farmer-shareholders to have their say on the proposed $250 million strategic investment partnership with Dawn Meats Group.
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