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.
OPINION: Once upon a time the Fieldays were for real farmers, salt of the earth people who thrived on hard yakka.
There were rural 'games' in the form of the tractor pull but the organisers never went the way of the Irish and incorporated ploughing into the event. In the early days the sites were very much rural but over the years this has changed.
Now, the cry of the urbanites and life sentence block owners has been answered with the news this year there'll be lawn mower racing.
Is this the start of an era which will see the return of sack races - the perfect event for the 'city suit types' to get their designer gear tucked into a dirty sack?
What about egg and spoon races, three-legged races and so on? Maybe guess how many jellybeans in the jar. For the hardy rural types, lawnmower racing and what might follow seems a far cry from the original concept of field days. The times are a changin'!
Dairy farmers are shoring up their balance sheets, with almost $1.7 billion of debt repaid in the six months to March 2025.
Virtual fencing company Halter is going global but for founder Craig Piggott, New Zealand farmers will always remain their main partners.
A former Fonterra executive is the new chair of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ).
New Federated Farmers national dairy chair Karl Dean is looking forward to tackling the issues facing the sector.
OPINION: Ministry for Primary Industries' situation outlook for primary industries report (SOPI) makes impressive reading.
Sheep and beef farmers Matt and Kristin Churchward say using artificial intelligence (AI) to spread fertiliser on their sprawling 630ha farm is a game changer for their business.
OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.
OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.