Slippery slope
OPINION: It used to be that the National Fieldays attracted brickbats for being officious clipboard carriers, while the regional, farmer-run field days enjoyed the bouquets for being easier to deal with.
Norwood has signed an exclusive New Zealand distribution agreement with the Burel Group for the SKY Agriculture brand.
Effective immediately, the deal is an extension of the existing relationship Norwood has with the Burel Group that will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2024.
As previously reported, the Burel Group has consolidated its Sulky, Sky, and Prolog retail brands into the SKY Agriculture, single brand strategy with a new look and feel.
This new partnership will mean Norwood has continued access to the traditional Sulky fertiliser spreader range and the range of seeding products, previously imported under the Sky brand by a different NZ distributor.
“The Sky brand, with products like the EasyDrill direct drill, is already well known in the market thanks to the great work done by the previous distributor, Tulloch Farm Machinery, the previous distributor. We thank John and his team for developing the Sky brand in New Zealand and we’re keen to build on their success,” says Rod Gardner, Norwood national product manager.
The refreshed SKY Agriculture brand will see a change in livery across all products, with Sulky’s traditional pale blue and red colour scheme to be replaced with two-tone grey and the new SKY Agriculture badge.
Norwood will supply the products across its 19 locations throughout New Zealand.
Legal controls on the movement of fruits and vegetables are now in place in Auckland’s Mt Roskill suburb, says Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis.
Arable growers worried that some weeds in their crops may have developed herbicide resistance can now get the suspected plants tested for free.
Fruit growers and exporters are worried following the discovery of a male Queensland fruit fly in Auckland this week.
Dairy prices have jumped in the overnight Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, breaking a five-month negative streak.
Alliance Group chief executive Willie Wiese is leaving the company after three years in the role.
A booklet produced in 2025 by the Rotoiti 15 trust, Department of Conservation and Scion – now part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute – aims to help people identify insect pests and diseases.

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