Ploughing Champs success
Sean Leslie and Casey Tilson from Middlemarch, with horses Beau and Dough, took out the Rural News Horse Plough award at the Power Farming NZ Ploughing Championships at Horotiu, near Hamilton, on April 13-14.
NICK DROMGOOL, acting chief executive of New Zealand's National Fieldays – the Southern Hemisphere's largest agricultural show - visited Ireland's Ploughing Championships this week.
He was a guest of the National Ploughing Association and Enterprise Ireland, the Trade and Investment board of the Irish Government.
Dromgool had the opportunity to meet with Ireland's Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney, and senior officials of the NPA, to discuss the deepening relationship between the two agriculturally-based countries.
With the championships expected to attract over 200,000 visitors over a three-day period, Dromgool visited leading agricultural machinery firms, many of whom have exhibited at Fieldays. He was impressed with both the scale of the ploughing championships as well as the level of innovation of the Irish agricultural Industry.
Dromgool says "of the many synergies between both events, the focus and growth of innovations is paramount to the continued success within the primary sectors of both countries".
Both countries have demonstrated resourcefulness in their approach to solving farming challenges.
"I am keen to explore a collaborative relationship with the National Ploughing Association that will encourage a healthy exchange of information and representation at our respective events."
A strong economic relationship exists between Ireland and New Zealand, with two-way trade exceeding NZ$300 million in 2012. Fifteen Irish companies exhibited at the 2013 New Zealand National Field Days and Treza Gallogly, trade representative of Enterprise Ireland NZ expects this figure to grow in 2014.
"The 2013 Fieldays were a great success for Irish firms in New Zealand and Nick's presence here at the Ploughing Championships pays testament to this. We both recognise the strong connections between New Zealand and Irish agriculture, and are looking forward to bringing another large contingent of strong Irish agricultural companies to New Zealand in June next year."
The Director General of MPI, Ray Smith says it's important for his department to celebrate the success of a whole range of groups and people around the country.
A small company which mobilised veterinarians around the country to deal with Mycoplasma bovis was one of the winners in this year's Biosecurity Awards, held at Parliament.
One of the country's top Māori sheep and beef farms is facing a five-year battle to get back to where it was before Cyclone Gabrielle struck just over 14 months ago.
Graham Brown, the executive chef for Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ), is excited about Korea.
One of the country's leading experts on China has praised the NZ Government for its handling of the recent incident with China over that country's cyber attack on two of our parliamentary institutions in 2021.
The world’s largest wool processing facility, badly damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle over one year ago, has re-opened following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project.
OPINION: Your canine crusader is not surprised by the recent news that New Zealand plant-based ‘fake meat’ business is in…
OPINION: This old mutt understands that NZ Post will soon no longer be delivering to rural addresses on Saturdays.