Piggery effluent polluting stream
Waikato Regional Council has sought an interim Enforcement Order from the Environment Court to stop piggery effluent from entering a waterway north of Te Aroha.
Ag and Civil Direct, a division of Waikato Tractors, Hamilton, is to distribute the Shelbourne Reynolds range of farm equipment manufactured in the UK.
The Powerspread Dairy and Pro Series spreaders handle liquid manures or slurries, and more solid farmyard manures.
Side discharge to the offside of the machines is said to spread material evenly up to 18 m.
Ag and Civil says this layout helps reduce environmental damage near watercourses or field boundaries and enables material to be spread up and down inaccessible slopes.
Both ranges have broadly similar layout: a tapered, watertight body carrying a full length auger revolves at 13 rpm, bringing material from the front and rear to a central discharge area.
Here a guillotine style gate controls the delivery rate to the spreading rotor.
The gate, made from Hardox steel, also acts as a shear bar to break up material into small pieces for a more even spread.
The spreading rotor rotates in an overshot manner at speeds up to 700 rpm to achieve the required spreading width. The tapered body has an 8 mm thick floor, and heavy duty chain and sprocket drives are individually protected by a shear bolt overload system.
The Powerspread Dairy versions, in 7.0 and 7.5 cu.m capacities, are equipped with brakes and road legal lighting kits as standard.
The Powerspread Pro models include several extra features -- shear bolts on the auger paddles, a wide angle PTO shaft, hydraulic drop down rotor floor, front and rear slurry canopies and a rear ladder.
They come in four sizes. The 1800 and 2300 models (8000 and 10,500 L capacity, respectively) are short wheelbase -- 6.1 m long overall and very manoeuvrable.
The larger 2400 and 3200 models (11,000 and 14,500 L respectively) are 7.5 m long and can have optional tandem axles.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.
OPINION: European farmers are going to extreme lengths to have their message heard.
OPINION: The hustle and bustle of one of Bangkok's most popular fast food outlets may feel a world away from…