increase font size
The Mark-It drench gun attachment, developed by student Penny Ranger.
Growing up on a South Waikato sheep and beef farm, Penny Ranger has firsthand experience on the day-to-day challenges.
One such challenge, when drenching sheep in a race, is working out which animals have been treated.
This led to the idea of developing a user-friendly marking tool; to give a clear indication of animals drenched and the arrival of the Mark-It drench gun attachment.
Penny, currently a Year 13 student at St Peters School in Cambridge, was the winner of a Fieldays Innovation Award, which she admits was originally her elder sister’s idea, but oversaw the development and refinement into a saleable product.
Like many great ideas, simplicity is the key, with a 3-D printed nozzle attachment, which houses a pre-loaded coloured sponge which leaves a mark on the side of the animal’s face as it’s drenched.
Said to offer a 100% indication when drenching, the attachments help reduce increasingly expensive drenching costs by eliminating double- drenching, while also giving confidence that the whole mob has been treated.
The earliest prototype was built in metal, but proved to be heavy and clumsy, so was refined with the use of a PLA plastic, with the attachment now only weighing thirty-three grams.
During the development, Penny overcame initial issues with sourcing and cutting the applicator sponges, then dyeing them with ink. The current version now uses a paint-like marking solution that, with a thicker consistency, doesn’t clog or drip.
Penny was selling starter packs at Fieldays, including the attachment and three dyed sponges for a bargain $35 and is currently setting up a website for online purchasing.
Back at the 2022 National Fieldays Innovation Awards, Jade Luxton, then a Year 13 pupil at St Pauls Collegiate School in Hamilton, was taking out a Highly Commended Award in the Young Innovators Category.
The arrival of new F8 and F9 designations for its 8000 and 9000 series forage harvesters, signals a swag of upgrades from John Deere, highlighted by topping the 1000hp mark for the first time.
Waikato-Bay of Plenty farmer Hugh Jackson recently secured this year’s FMG Young Farmer of the Year title in Invercargill.
Ashburton-based Carrfields has signed an agreement with Manitou to take over the distribution and retail rights for Manitou Agricultural Equipment covering the lower North Island and the South Island, effective August 1, 2025.
With June ending and following the most upbeat National Fieldays for several years, tractor dealers are reporting a lift in sales.
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
OPINION: The phasing out of copper network from communications is understandable.
