Latest news with #Fieldays
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Germany and New Zealand trade on the up as Fieldays provides important business platform
Daly said since then, there had been 'very significant' interest from German companies to invest in New Zealand. 'Germany is New Zealand's fastest-growing export partner: We have seen a 46% increase in trade from New Zealand to Germany in the first 10 months of the European Union-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement going live.' German Deputy Ambassador to New Zealand Winnie Switakowski said German companies perceived New Zealand as a secure place to do business with. 'For Germany, New Zealand is a strong and trusted like-minded partner. The EU-NZ Free Trade Agreement provides additional reliability.' Head of the German delegation to Fieldays, Olaf Schafer, agreed. 'New Zealand is a very important partner for Germany,' he said. 'New Zealand has a very stable economy and works on an extremely high level in the field of bio-economy – it's gold standard. 'There are also lots of similarities in our agriculture, especially regarding the climate and ecological sustainability. 'That's what makes the exchange with New Zealand so rewarding.' Important connections formed Daly said having a presence with the German Pavilion at Fieldays had been 'a great profiling piece' for German businesses. 'All of these companies [exhibiting in the pavilion] were small to medium-size enterprises which normally don't have the budget to do this,' she said. 'If you put them all together under the pavilion, it gives them instant brand recognition. German Deputy Ambassador to New Zealand Winnie Switakowski (from left), head of the German delegation to Fieldays, Olaf Schäfer, and German-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce head of DEInternational, projects & services Iris Heinz in front of the German Pavilion at Fieldays. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer 'It also de-risked their market entry by getting them connected to the right people straight away.' Relationships were made on both ends, Daly said, with the team connecting German businesses to the New Zealand market, and New Zealand businesses to the German market. IFWexpo Heidelberg project manager Gabor Nemet said it had taken four years to get the German Pavilion at Fieldays across the line and now that it happened, the feedback couldn't be better. 'The German exhibitors appreciate the opportunity to understand the New Zealand market better. 'A lot of them even said after one day at Fieldays, they had better and more in-depth conversations with potential clients than they had after five days on some European expos.' Among the 11 German exhibitors in the pavilion was soil and substrate company Floragard. Floragard sales manager Asia Pacific Jonathan Kroiss at the stall within the German Pavilion. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer Jonathan Kroiss, Floragard's sales manager for Asia/Pacific, said the company would usually participate in gardening-specific expos, but Fieldays had a broader clientele. 'We wanted to find out if there is a market for our products in New Zealand ... It's a comparably small market, but it's all part of a puzzle,' he said. 'There are very interesting trade partners in New Zealand and we were able to make a couple of connections ... The conversations I had were very interesting and highly technical. The people in the field are competent and well-educated. 'We hope to be able to enter the market here soon.' Germany Trade & Invest research analyst ANZ Carola Gilbert was also full of praise for Fieldays and the German Pavilion. 'I was especially impressed by the Innovation Hub and the conversations with businesses on the ground. 'It was a pleasure to present the opportunities that the German market offers ... and I look forward to further connecting with people and businesses.' Fieldays impresses Switakowski said for the German representatives, the concept of Fieldays was unique. 'MPs, CEOs, the economy, politics and the customers all come together. This is a unique opportunity to do business.' The 'uniqueness' of Fieldays was also acknowledged by Schäfer. 'I am impressed, especially by the start-up scene and I take home a lot of interesting ideas, including in the areas of innovation and upscaling. 'For a lot of New Zealand businesses the question is not 'How do we get results from scientific research', but 'How can we make the research results practicable'.' The pavilion had also been successful from a visitor perspective, Switakowski said. 'Lots of people visited the pavilion and told us that they went for a holiday to Germany or that they learned German in high school. 'It was an exchange of lots of little stories of German-New Zealand connections.' The interviews were conducted partly in German, with translation provided by the reporter. Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
NZ Herald
10-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Fieldays 2025 boosts rural mood with better prices, Govt support
Fieldays 2025 has been hailed 'a cracker' by Federated Farmers' hierarchy. 'It's always a great time to catch up with our members and other farmers, but this has definitely stood out as one of the more positive Fieldays I've attended,' national president Wayne Langford said. 'I noticed a real shift
Otago Daily Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
NZ no longer in state of 'peak tractor'
By Gianina Schwanecke of RNZ New Zealand has fallen from "peak tractor", with bigger machinery, rising on-farm costs and farmers becoming more efficient driving sales down. Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen says as a key piece of farm equipment, tractors have long been thought of as a good economic indicator of farm spending and investment. The more tractors, the more spending, and in turn the better the health of the primary sector - but this was changing, he said. Recent Infometrics' analysis of data from Stats NZ and the New Zealand Transport Agency showed the country hit 'peak tractor' in 2022. It showed the number of active tractors registered in New Zealand reached a peak of 34,549 in March 2022. By March this year that had dropped 4.4 percent to 33,044. The decline in tractor numbers is largely due to the low number of new tractor registrations over time. In the 12 months to April this year, there were 1925 new tractors registered in New Zealand, down 17 percent from a year ago and the smallest annual total since mid-2001. Both the actual number of registered tractors, and the 12-month moving average, have now fallen below 33,000, the first time tractor numbers have been beneath this threshold since 2017. Olsen said the drop was being driven by a range of factors, including changes in technology and farming practices. "Particularly the likes of larger tractors coming on stream, larger farms meaning you don't need quite as many tractors because of larger parcels of land, and also a bit more corporitisation of farming in New Zealand where people are using contractors and similar to ensure whatever they're buying tractors and otherwise are most efficiently used." Olsen acknowledged challenging conditions in recent years, including increased on-farm costs and higher interest rates, had put pressure on farmers and limited opportunities for new investment with many running tractors for as long as possible. He said a level of continued concentration in farms across the country into larger farm operations may have also contributed to a rationalisation of tractor assets nationally. Farmers also seemed to be investing differently as was evident at the recent Mystery Creek Fieldays near Hamilton. "People are starting to increasingly embrace a much wider more diverse set of technology in the primary sector," Olsen said. "You know there were a lot more drones at Fieldays this year, a lot of talk about wearables and the importance of the productivity gains that those sort of options bring." Tractor sales at the Fieldays seemed to have been buoyed though by the government's new tax incentive for farm machinery. Tractor and Machinery Association president Jaiden Drought said the Fieldays had been "fantastic". "Everyone went into the Fieldays very buoyant and the show was certainly a success. Everyone had significantly higher inquiry - they thought that even day one of the show was better than all the days combined last year." Drought felt the drop-off since 2022 related to post-Covid conditions, which included farmers using tractors for longer and more jobs on farm. He said some of this market uncertainty remained, especially given the current geopolitical outlook. "I think the trend will see an upswing in machinery sales, I think we're just in a little bit of a holding pattern." He expected sales to improve in the spring.
NZ Herald
02-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
New Zealand tractor numbers fall from peak as new registrations drop
It showed the number of active tractors registered in New Zealand reached a peak of 34,549 in March 2022. By March this year, it had dropped 4.4% to 33,044. The decline in tractor numbers is largely due to the low number of new tractor registrations over time. In the 12 months to April this year, there were 1925 new tractors registered in New Zealand, down 17% from a year ago and the smallest annual total since mid-2001. Both the actual number of registered tractors and the 12-month moving average have now fallen below 33,000, the first time tractor numbers have been beneath this threshold since 2017. Olsen said the drop was being driven by a range of factors, including changes in technology and farming practices. 'Particularly the likes of larger tractors coming on stream, larger farms meaning you don't need quite as many tractors because of larger parcels of land, and also a bit more corpritisation of farming in New Zealand where people are using contractors and similar to ensure whatever they're buying tractors and otherwise are most efficiently used.' Olsen acknowledged that challenging conditions in recent years, including increased on-farm costs and higher interest rates, had put pressure on farmers and limited opportunities for new investment, with many running tractors for as long as possible. He said a level of continued concentration in farms across the country into larger farm operations may have also contributed to a rationalisation of tractor assets nationally. Farmers also seemed to be investing differently, as was evident at the recent Mystery Creek Fieldays near Hamilton. 'People are starting to increasingly embrace a much wider, more diverse set of technology in the primary sector,' Olsen said. 'You know, there were a lot more drones at Fieldays this year, a lot of talk about wearables and the importance of the productivity gains that those sort of options bring.' Tractor sales at Fieldays seemed to have been buoyed, though, by the Government's new tax incentive for farm machinery. Tractor and Machinery Association president Jaiden Drought said Fieldays had been 'fantastic'. 'Everyone went into the Fieldays very buoyant, and the show was certainly a success. 'Everyone had significantly higher inquiry - they thought that even day one of the show was better than all the days combined last year.' Drought felt the drop-off since 2022 related to post-Covid conditions, which included farmers using tractors for longer and more jobs on-farm. He said some of this market uncertainty remained, especially given the current geopolitical outlook. 'I think the trend will see an upswing in machinery sales. 'I think we're just in a little bit of a holding pattern.' He expected sales to improve in the spring. - RNZ
Scoop
02-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Worldline NZ Figures Mark First Quarter Of Consumer Spending Growth Since March 2024
Press Release – Worldline Auckland Worldline NZ data released today mark the first quarter of annual consumer spending growth seen since the March quarter in 2024. Consumer spending through all Core Retail merchants in Worldline NZ's payments network in June 2025 reached $3.60B, which is up +0.8% on June 2024, following adjustments for merchants coming and going from the network. Bruce Proffit, Worldline NZ's Chief Sales Officer, says the slightly higher level of spending in June this year follows a similar pattern seen in the previous two months. 'Core Retail spending had lifted above year-ago levels in April and May, and the continued modest annual growth in June will mean the just-completed June quarter will be the first quarter of annual growth since early 2025.' Proffit says while the 1.2% annual growth rate for the quarter may not be high, the turnaround may prove significant in the second half of 2025. 'While June is historically the slowest month of the year for retail merchants, June this year was set to be even slower than last year given a Monday replaced a Saturday in the calendar. So, it is especially encouraging to see positive annual growth recorded.' However, Proffit also says figures recorded through Hospitality sector merchants point out some of the mixed nature of consumer spending at present. 'The consumer spend at Hospitality merchants in Worldline NZ's network was $0.85B over June 2025 and down -2.4% on 2024 but differed across the country,' he says. 'The decline was greater in Auckland/Northland (-4.3%), while the decline was only slight in Nelson (-0.5%), with the Nelson fall largely due to Hospitality spending dropping an average of -21% on the final Thursday-to-Saturday in the month, due to major weather events.' Notably, consumer spending was up in the Waikato region (+3.3%), both before and after the annual mid-month Fieldays event held at Mystery Creek, Hamilton. Within the total Core Retail sector, annual spending growth for June was highest in Whanganui (+6.9%), Taranaki (+4.1%) and Nelson (+4.0%), while spending declined on the same month last year in Wellington (-1.8%) and Auckland/Northland (-0.7%). Note: These figures reflect general market trends and should not be taken as a proxy for Worldline's market share or company earnings. The figures primarily reflect transactions undertaken within stores but also include some e-commerce transactions. The figures exclude transactions through Worldline undertaken by merchants outside the Core Retail sector (as defined by Statistics NZ). About Worldline in New Zealand We are New Zealand's leading payments innovator. We design, build and deliver payment solutions that help Kiwi business succeed. Whether you're looking for in store, online or mobile payment solutions or powerful business insights, Worldline is here to help with technology backed by experience. About Worldline Worldline [Euronext: WLN] helps businesses of all shapes and sizes to accelerate their growth journey – quickly, simply, and securely. With advanced payments technology, local expertise and solutions customised for hundreds of markets and industries, Worldline powers the growth of over one million businesses around the world. Worldline generated a 4.6 billion euros revenue in 2024.
