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Sonia and Mark Dillon and the trusty tractor.
Southland rural contractor and current NZ Ploughing champion Mark Dillon has got his tractor back after it enjoyed some extensive OE.
The 1993 Massey Fergusson 362 with accompanying Kverneland plough returned home to his Riversdale property in January after being used at both last year’s World Ploughing Championships in the Czech Republic and the 2024 champs in Estonia. The cost of returning the tractor and plough meant they stayed in Europe between competitions.
Mark said MPI had cleared the tractor and plough for pick-up after a bio-security check-over. Ensuring the machinery is thoroughly cleaned before boarding a ship is part of the expense. On arrival home it was tidied up before going to the Dillon Harvesting stand at the Southern Field Days held near Gore from February 11-13.
Next month, Mark is heading up to Methven with his trusty tractor and plough for the 2026 NZ Ploughing Championships. Because of the time it takes to transport equipment, his repeat Silver Plough win last year means he will also represent NZ this year at the World Champs being held in Croatia in September.
After field days it will be time for the tractor to go to the engineers for some modifications before it goes off to Croatia.
Mark was placed 19th last year in Prague in the conventional class.
He started driving a tractor at age six. His father Richard used to do ploughing as a farmer and Mark was competing in the Southland competitions by the time he was 12.
He continues to do quite a bit of ploughing for clients as part of his business as a rural contractor which he runs with his wife Sonia. They are active members of Rural Contractors NZ.
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Manawatu Mayor Michael Ford says the district sees itself as the agribusiness capital of the lower North Island.
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