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Edible bale wrap, RamRacks and edge clearers among innovations featured at New Zealand trade show
They can claim credit for inventing the milking machine (Norman John Daysh) and electric fencing (Bill Gallagher), so it's worth keeping an eye on New Zealand's agricultural innovations.
Some of the latest and most exciting of which were on show this year's Fieldays 2025, where the innovation awards are an important part of this event, billed as the biggest agricultural trade show in the southern hemisphere.
One of the entries for the awards is an attachable digger arm, which can give a 1.8t digger the reach of a five-tonner. The extender can be fitted to an existing digger in the 1.8-20t range. The extended reach can be particularly useful when using a small digger in a confined space.
The inventor of the Excavator Folding Extension is Bryan Cleland of Bryscorah Ltd, and he suggests practical uses such as cutting a tree from the top down, horticultural hedge trimming, and residential trench work.
"I have used it where a larger machine would not have been able to reach," he said.
His invention is one of 63 in the innovation awards. Participants vie for a share of €40,000 worth of cash prizes, services, and help to launch or accelerate new products.
Many New Zealand innovations are somewhat unique to the territory (such as the aerial topdressing, which John Chaytor first did in 1906, using a hot air balloon to spread seed over a swamped valley).
Perhaps the modern equivalent is inventors responding to New Zealand's unique biodiversity crisis caused by invasive predators, primarily rats, stoats, cats, and possums, which prey on native species and damage ecosystems. The Department of Conservation aims to eradicate these predators by 2050 to protect New Zealand's unique wildlife.
Predator traps
The country is a world leader in predator eradication, using techniques like trapping and poisoning to remove invasive species. That's why Fieldays is a good place to find the latest in animal traps.
NZAutoTraps manufactures self-resetting predator traps for multiple species. They are mostly powered by rechargeable batteries, but their solar panel-powered AT220-XL can be left in place for at least 18 months without recharging. Other traps may need to be serviced after four to six months, to recharge the battery or refill with bait. Electronic sensors may need to be cleaned.
Some traps have artificial intelligence technology to make them species-specific, in order to protect species such as the kea bird, the world's only alpine parrot.
Other New Zealand innovations are more familiar to Irish farmers because they are designed for the country's large livestock industries, which have a lot in common with Ireland's grass-based livestock industries.
Beef snacks
They share problems, such as unwanted non-replacement dairy calves. In New Zealand, some of these calves end up in Mīti snacks. An 84g snack contains 20 grams of 10-month-old dairy beef, plus honey, a smoky flavour from the native Kānuka plant, and other locally sourced natural flavourings and condiments.
Mīti is New Zealand's first export-ready, shelf-stable young-beef snack.
For emissions-conscious consumers, it has up to 48% lower carbon emissions than conventional beef. No artificial preservatives are used.
Mīti is an entrant for an early-stage innovation award.
Another early-stage innovation award entrant is Kiwi-Econet, an edible bale net to replace plastic net.
Biodegradable and edible by livestock, it reduces the environmental impact and the carbon footprint of plastic netting.
Nutritious and safe when consumed by livestock, the edible net wrap reduces the labour and expense of traditional wrap removal and disposal, because you don't have to remove it when livestock are feeding on the bale.
RamRack carrying device
Sheep farmers here may appreciate the thought that went into the RamRack, a collapsible, adjustable carrying device attached to the front of a quad bike, easily raised and lowered by a hand winch rated to lift 100 kg.
It folds out flat for easy loading of, for example, a sheep, or awkward, heavy loads such as drench containers, seed sacks, mineral blocks, wheels, fence posts, etc.
It extends quad bike carrying capacity, while safely securing animals (live or dead) for transportation, with two fail-safe locking mechanisms to eliminate the chance of load release during travel. It could even be used to immobilise sheep for treatment.
Another innovation on show at Fieldays, which will interest Irish farmers, is the Landquip LaneRotr R1, a tractor-mounted hydraulic rotary machine designed to clear the edges of farm roads. It removes roadway edge build-up to improve drainage off the road. With a working speed of 1.5km per hour, it can be used to clear up to 5km of road edges daily.
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