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.
2014 champion ploughman Ian Woolley, of Blenheim, has again won the Silver Plough, sponsored by Case IH, and will represent New Zealand at the World Ploughing Championships in Denmark this September.
The 60th New Zealand Ploughing Championships were held at Palmerston, East Otago, in April, organised by the East Otago Vintage Committee chaired by Ronald Sheat.
Second was Mark Dillon and third Scott McKenzie.
Woolley’s latest win means he will also represent NZ at the World Championships in UK 2016.
He is now arranging to freight his John Deere tractor, plough and parts to Denmark for this year’s event and will leave his gear there for the 2016 event in the UK.
Winner of the reversible plough class, sponsored by Farmland Fuel, was Malcolm Taylor from Putaruru. Second was Bob Mehrtens and third Ashley Seaton.
Taylor, who has competed at NZ finals for 11 years, has won this class for the last seven. He will represent NZ in Denmark and in the UK in 2016. He has a tractor in the UK stored with a family member, which is set up the same as his NZ tractor.
Winner of the vintage trophy was Paul Houghton of Gordonton, north of Hamilton. Second was John Stalker and third Alastair Rutherford. Houghton previously won in 2012 when the event was held at Cambridge.
Winner of the horse ploughing, sponsored by Rural News Group, was Fred Pilling of Hamilton. Second was Sean Leslie and third were Snow Cleaver and Doc Wilson.
Pilling won this event for the first time in 2014. He was also the winner of the Vern Bishell Trophy for the best presented horse team, including horses, equipment and contestant.
The Wiganwood Trophy was won by Lyle Parnham, the Fairhall trophy by Tryphena Carter and the WG Miller Trophy by Ashley Seaton.
The weather was cool, but fine, and there were trade displays, vintage machinery and craft stalls. Big crowds attended on both days.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
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