Farming smarter with technology
The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry professionals from across the country.
CNH Industrial, owner of the New Holland ad Case IH brands, has secured a minority stake in EarthOptics.
The US-based ag tech business was founded in 2018, to develop soil data measurement and mapping technology.
CNH Industrial is not alone in the latest US$27.6m round of funding with Bayer, Syngenta and Elanco also partners in the start-up as are several venture capital businesses looking to enter the field of soil data measurement and mapping technology.
Combining data from ground-based sensors, satellites, soil samples and machine learning models, the company delivers a wide range of data to help boost yields and reduce fertiliser application, alongside soil mapping platforms and a system that precisely identifies the areas and depths where fields are compacted.
A pilot testing phase of the soil sensing technology will be conducted by Case IH this year, with the goal of accelerating levels of tillage automation to provide greater agronomic insights for customers.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).