Landini Rex 4 vineyard tractor series debuts in NZ
The Landini Rex 4 Series, recently released in New Zealand, is designed with vineyards in mind.
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.
On the eve of his departure from Federated Farmers board, Richard McIntyre is thanking farmers for their support and words of encouragement during his stint as a farmer advocate.
A project reducing strains and sprains on farm has won the Innovation category in the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards 2025.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), in partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and other sector organisations, has launched a national survey to understand better the impact of facial eczema (FE) on farmers.
One of New Zealand's latest and largest agrivoltaics farm Te Herenga o Te Rā is delivering clean renewable energy while preserving the land's agricultural value for sheep grazing under the modules.
Global food company Nestle’s chair Paul Bulcke will step down at its next annual meeting in April 2026.
Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki has been announced as the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the National Sustainability Showcase at in Wellington this evening.
OPINION: ACT MP Mark Cameron isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he certainly calls it how he sees it, holding…
OPINION: Did former PM Jacinda Ardern get fawning reviews for her book?