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Alpine Buildings' Hot-Box Rafter.
Alpine Buildings, Timaru, claims to be New Zealand's first company to make complete kitset buildings and is well known for developing a bird-proof rafter called Zero-Bird-Perch.
Its latest advance, which is being launched at National Fieldays, is the Hot-Box Rafter, said to be NZ's first completely hot dip-galvanised, bird-proof rafter; it is expected to last at least 2.5 times longer than anything else available.
Molten zinc, in which the steel is immersed, coats the surfaces inside and out, unlike sprayed zinc 'galv' which largely only protects outer surfaces.
Preventing birds perching, with their resultant mess, will keep buildings looking smarter for much longer.
The iconic services building at National Fieldays' Mystery Creek site will be demolished to make way for a "contemporary replacement that better serves the needs of both the community and event organisers," says board chair Jenni Vernon.
OPINION: The Rural Support Trust ran a dinner and debate at the National Fieldays last month. In tables of 10, over 540 people were wined and dined, including the Prime Minister, supported by ministers from around the country.
OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.
OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.
OPINION: Once upon a time the Fieldays were for real farmers, salt of the earth people who thrived on hard yakka.
Graduates of a newly-updated Agri-Women’s Development Trust (AWDT) course are taking more value than ever from the programme, with some even walking away calling themselves the “farm CFO”.
Meet the Need, a farmer-led charity, says food insecurity in New Zealand is dire, with one in four children now living in a household experiencing food insecurity, according to Ministry of Health data.
Applications have now opened for the 2026 Meat Industry Association scholarships.
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through a new initiative designed to make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking easier.
OPINION: While farmers are busy and diligently doing their best to deal with unwanted gasses, the opponents of farming - namely the Greens and their mates - are busy polluting the atmosphere with tirades of hot air about what farmers supposedly aren't doing.
OPINION: For close to eight years now, I have found myself talking about methane quite a lot.
OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.
