Farming smarter with technology
The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry professionals from across the country.
Shareholders at a special meeting have approved a proposed deal that will see Buhler Industries, the publicly traded Versatile and Farm King equipment manufacturer, fully absorbed by Asko, its Turkish majority shareholder.
Although there will be no change to the brands or the dealer networks, the Buhler name is to be dropped. The new company, Amalco, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asko Holdings, which purchased 96.7% of the shares of Buhler Industries in December 2023. Asko Holdings also owns Basak Traktor.
The company says the main reason for the change is that substantial investments are required over the next few years to modernise the Versatile tractor plant in Winnipeg and the Farm King factory in Morden, both located in Canada.
In a move to start both upgrades quickly, with limited disruptions to production, the common shares will be de-listed from the Toronto Stock Exchange and Buhler Industries will apply to cease to be a reporting issuer under applicable Canadian securities laws.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).
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