App streamlines capability
John Deere has released new software updates to its Operations Centre and MyOperations App.
Farmers need to be aware of the possible limitations of international weather apps on their smartphones, says Phil Duncan of weatherwatch.co.nz.
While not discouraging farmers from using the apps, he says the problem is they lack any human input.
“So a farmer can get a lot of false hope from those apps which may say ‘80% chance of rain for four days’, but in fact you only get a drizzle patch or something,” Duncan explains. “So that’s where you need a New Zealand forecaster to come in and add local knowledge.
Duncan says at present there is a touch of El Nino, which is helping to lift the air pressure around New Zealand and the Tasman Sea. Present patterns suggest New Zealand is heading for a ‘spring like westerly’ with showers on the west coast and hot and dry and sunny conditions on the east coast.
Global trade has been thrown into another bout of uncertainty following the overnight ruling by US Supreme Court, striking down President Donald Trump's decision to impose additional tariffs on trading partners.
Controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill have been lifted.
Fonterra farmer shareholders and unit holders are in line for another payment in April.
Farmers are being encouraged to take a closer look at the refrigerants running inside their on-farm systems, as international and domestic pressure continues to build on high global warming potential (GWP) 400-series refrigerants.
As expected, Fonterra has lifted its 2025-26 forecast farmgate milk price mid-point to $9.50/kgMS.
Bovonic says a return on investment study has found its automated mastitis detection technology, QuadSense, is delivering financial, labour, and animal-health benefits on New Zealand dairy farms worth an estimated $29,547 per season.

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