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Pottinger says it has substantial order books, after a difficult 16-month period brought about by the pandemic.
Despite Covid, the need for the world to eat has kept farmers busy, meaning that they continue to buy new kit and machinery – so manufacturers are also busy.
As an example, Austrian company Pöttinger is signaling that it will have its best year ever, expecting to end its 2020/21 financial year with a €395m turnover (NZ$673m). This is a significant increase on the €366m of 2019/2020 and beats the previous best ever figure of €382m in 2018/2019.
Speaking at a virtual press launch of the new Jumbo 7000 series forage wagons, spokesman Gregor Dietachmayr, confirmed Pöttinger is very busy, with substantial order books, after a difficult 16-month period brought about by the pandemic.
“We had to be careful, even reducing our manufacturing output slightly to reduce the risk of creating too-high machine inventories, should the demand have shrunk,” said Dietachmayr. “We were surprised to find the demand for new machines actually increased.”
While the domestic market of Austria accounts for 10% of sales, exports of the remaining 90% sees Germany and France as the largest markets at 19% and 15% respectively. The product mix is built around grassland machinery at 46% of volume, tillage gear at 16%, balers and loader wagons at 15%, with drills making up 9% of the total.
During the year, the company opened its 17th sales subsidiary in Poland; a strategy started in France in 1999 that was followed by Switzerland (2003), Italy (2004), Canada (2005), Ukraine (2007), Australia, Slovakia and USA (2008), Russia (2010), the UK, Belgium and Ireland (2012) and Scandinavia and China (2016).
While feeding dairy animals in New Zealand is largely centred around feed trailers, mixer wagons or baleage, one wonders whether there is a place for robotic feeders, particularly in South Island locations, where cows are housed during winter or full time.
Founded in Germany as recently as 1977, today, the Fliegl Group employs more than 1100 workers, offering an expansive range of transport solutions, from their base in Bavaria.
Case IH is expanding its popular Puma range in New Zealand, with a new model that was released at Fieldays.
It seems that tractor manufacturers will go to great efforts to promote the versatility and durability of their offerings, a recent example being a Massey Ferguson with an 8S tractor entered into the Morocco Desert Challenge.
As if there wasn’t enough choice in the New Zealand ute market, LDV New Zealand is expanding its offering, by showcasing the all-new Terron 9 Elite at Fieldays.
In an ever-changing world, things never stay completely the same. Tropical jungles can turn into concrete ones criss-crossed by motorways, or shining cities collapse into ghost towns.
Labour's agriculture spokesperson Jo Luxton says while New Zealand needs more housing, sacrificing our best farmland to get there is not the answer.
Profitability issues facing arable farmers are the same across the world, says New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr.
Over 85% of Fonterra farmer suppliers will be eligible for customer funding up to $1,500 for solutions designed to drive on-farm efficiency gains and reduce emissions intensity.
Tighter beef and lamb production globally have worked to the advantage of NZ, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
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