Fieldays’ sustainability credentials getting greener
The New Zealand National Fieldays Society has achieved a major sustainability milestone - reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and reaching the target five years early.
The latest offerings from Claas, Amazone, JCB and Trioliet will be on show at the Claas Harvest Centre display at Fieldays.
Making its debut, the Trioliet Triomaster S slices up to 45cm of silage from the face of a silage pit. Unlike conventional silage grabs or buckets that pull the silage from the pit, the Triomaster S has a fixed blade that shears through silage without affecting the structure of the wall or the stack itself. With a capacity of 2 or 3cu.m, it can be fitted to any telehandler or frontloader with a lift capacity of more than 3.5 tonnes.
Claas Harvest Centre’s sales manager NZ, Luke Wheeler, says the use of a silage cutter maintains silage quality and consistency by helping to create a well-sealed silage face, which in turn results in a reduction in secondary fermentation. Says Wheeler, “If you go the trouble of producing top quality silage it makes sense to use the best machinery to feed it out and get the best results”.
And first time on display at Mystery Creek will be the Claas Arion 600 and 400 series of tractors and the high-speed JCB Fastrac 8330.
The seven-model Arion 600 series builds on the marque’s previous models with rated power outputs from 125 to 205hp to suit all types of operations, with a choice of operating systems, cabin configurations and equipment options.
The new Arion 400 series, with six models from 90 to 140hp, boasts an array of features and technology normally only found on more powerful tractors: an optional continuous windscreen-roof panel, front linkages, automatic differential locking, automatic four-wheel drive and PTO activation/deactivation, headland management systems and dynamic steering.
The JCB Fastrac 8330, the world’s only tractor with all-round self-levelling suspension, has continuously variable transmission, ABS disc brakes on four wheels and a top speed of 70km/h, helping the machine raise the bar in productivity, comfort, safety and versatility.
As usual, the site will show a complete line-up of forage harvesting technology from Claas.
The complete range of Disco mowers and mower-conditioners, Volto tedders and Liner rakes will also be on display, alongside the range of Amazone spreaders and sprayers.
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
Fonterra chair Peter McBride says the divestment of Mainland Group is their last significant asset sale and signals the end of structural changes.
Thirty years ago, as a young sharemilker, former Waikato farmer Snow Chubb realised he was bucking a trend when he started planting trees to provide shade for his cows, but he knew the animals would appreciate what he was doing.
Virtual fencing and herding systems supplier, Halter is welcoming a decision by the Victorian Government to allow farmers in the state to use the technology.
DairyNZ’s latest Econ Tracker update shows most farms will still finish the season in a positive position, although the gap has narrowed compared with early season expectations.
New Zealand’s national lamb crop for the 2025–26 season is estimated at 19.66 million head, a lift of one percent (or 188,000 more lambs) on last season, according to Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s (B+LNZ) latest Lamb Crop report.