increase font size
Waverley and Wilco Klein Ovink and their son Josh, who is part of the team building product as well as salesman at Fieldays.
When it comes to award-winning innovation, Waverley and Wilco Klein Ovink got started early.
Twenty-five years ago, they invented the Wrangler, an innovation that has changed the game for farmers all over the globe.
They were encouraged to enter the Wrangler into the Fieldays Innovation Awards in 1995 where they took home an award. Since then, they have won three more Fieldays Innovation Awards, and achieved success locally and globally with their innovations.
Waverley, marketing and admin director at The Wrangler Ltd, says the family-owned engineering business continues to make quality New Zealand products in Whakatane.
She recalls that originally Wilco made the Wrangler to make their jobs as sharemilking easier.
“It was taking two people to treat a cow: one to hold the rope and the other to examine the hoof, and it wasn’t safe for any of us,” she says.
“As a cadet, Wilco watched a cow being treated for lameness, but she fell and broke her hip. It had got him thinking there had to be a better way.
“We looked around to buy something and were surprised to find there was nothing here for holding and treating a lame cow – so Wilco built one.”
It was so novel that they were able to take out a patent on securing and lifting a hoof.
Soon vets wanted all of their farmers to have one.
They suggested the couple take their innovation to the Fieldays.
“It was there talking to farmers at Fieldays that we started to find the true extent of lameness in the dairy industry.
“Every farmer had hoof knife scars on their arms and just considered it part of farming, and we heard from guys getting kicked in the head by cows.
“It was normal to put off treating cows, farmers would just give her a jab of penicillin and hope she’d come right, not realising how much a lame cow really cost them by being sick. Some of the figures of the number of lame cows on farms was staggering.”
Waverley says when designing the Wrangler, they wanted something that would not only hold the hoof, but the cow too, and stop her falling during treatment.
“It needed to be bulletproof, multifunctional for every type of veterinary procedure we might need, and able to sit outside and be maintained just with a yard hose.
The couple were stoked to win the Fieldays Prototype Award in 1995.
Waverley says the judges were very excited to see the Wrangler.
“The encouragement they’d given us spurred us to refine it further, coming back the following year and winning the New Equipment Innovation Award in 1996.”
“We’ve gone on to win many national and regional business awards since, particularly for innovation, and it’s always a great boost to business.”
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.
Samasz distributor FarmShop has introduced the new XDF Series Front Mowers, said to be refined for local conditions and to improve cutting precision and wear resistance.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.
Rural retailer Farmlands has reported a return to profitability, something the co-operative says shows clear progress in the second year of its five-year strategy.
According to a new report, the Safer Rides initiative, which offered farmers heavily discounted crush protection devices (CPDs) for quad bikes, has made a significant impact in raising awareness and action around farm vehicle safety.
OPINION: In the past weeks, much has been said and written about one of New Zealand's greatest prime ministers, James Brendan Bolger, who died just a few months after his 90th birthday.
Following recent storms in the region, the 69th edition of the Tour of Southland cycling event has been postponed.
OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…
