Innovation takes centre stage at Fieldays 2025 awards event
Hosted by ginger dynamo Te Radar, the Fieldays Innovation Award Winners Event put the spotlight on the agricultural industry's most promising ideas.
Celebrating 50 years of being in business in 2025 and specialising in the design and manufacture of an extensive range for the rural industries, Feilding-based McKee Plastics was at Fieldays highlighting a range of feeding products.
The Black and White 50-teat Open Trough Feeder features a host of design details making the unit practical and easy to use, alongside durability and an extended service life.
At the heart of the unit, a heavy-duty chassis and subframe offers a low centre of gravity for improved stability, an integral chassis tilt mechanism for machine levelling and an easily extendable towbar, making it suitable for towing by quads or side by sides, compact tractors or utes.
Manufactured in-house, a 550-litre milk reservoir incorporates a large diameter lid for filling and cleaning, with access via a robust rear step assembly.
The moulded plastic open trough style manifold delivers simplicity, with the biggest benefit being ease of cleaning. Equipped throughout with quality Hansen fittings, the unit is supplied with 50 McKee touch teats.
Director Logan McKee says, “This is a nononsense heavy-duty product offered at an extremely competitive price. Of course, we have an extensive range, right up to 100-teat units to suit a wide range of requirements. The key point is that they all incorporate our five decades of experience in designing and building these types of machines, in what is still a family business – with Pops still working on the factory floor every day”.
www.mckeeplastics.co.nz
Hosted by ginger dynamo Te Radar, the Fieldays Innovation Award Winners Event put the spotlight on the agricultural industry's most promising ideas.
According to DairyNZ's latest Econ Tracker update, there has been a rise in the forecast breakeven milk price for the 2025/26 season.
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Nationwide rural wellbeing programme, Farmstrong recently celebrated its tenth birthday at Fieldays with an event attended by ambassador Sam Whitelock, Farmers Mutual Group (FMG), Farmstrong partners, and government Ministers.
Six industry organisations, including DairyNZ and the Dairy Companies Association (DCANZ) have signed an agreement with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to prepare the country for a potential foot and mouth outbreak.
The 2026 Red Dairy Cow conference will be hosted by New Zealand in March.
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