Reymer Ag is the kind of contracting business that reflects both the history and the direction of New Zealand agriculture, built over generations but constantly evolving alongside the systems it supports.

There is a quiet shift taking place in how farmers and contractors think about workwear. For a long time clothing sat in the background of the operation, something you wore out, replaced and did not think too much about. Now, particularly across larger scale operations and contracting businesses, it has become part of the system.

In a farming environment where input costs are punishing, environmental compliance is tightening and the pressure to lift per-hectare performance has never been greater…

There is a growing layer within New Zealand’s contracting sector that is not replacing traditional spray systems but working alongside them to fill the gaps where timing, access and precision become limiting factors.

There is no getting away from the fact that the current operating environment is a tough one. Costs remain high, margins are tight and both farmers and contractors are taking a more considered approach to capital investment.

Colin Davidson’s remarkable story about developing New Zealand’s first 4WD tractors has finally been told on television.

Today’s 90hp+ tractors are expected todo far more than basic fieldwork, combining transport capability, precision technology, fuel efficiency and operator comfort into versatile machines designed to handle the increasing demands of modern farming and contracting systems across New Zealand.

Agricultural contractor Jack Bartlett says a lucky break when he was just out of school got his business to where it is today.

A new high among leading brands in the agricultural machinery sector.

Every June, the rural calendar pulls the industry north to Fieldays at Mystery Creek and while the scale and spectacle of the event remains a constant, the context in which it sits continues to shift.

There is a point in every haymaking season where output becomes everything. Weather windows tighten, labour becomes stretched and the margin between a good result and a compromised crop narrows quickly.

When Patrick Murray took over his family’s pine seedling nursery in New Zealand, he saw an opportunity to disrupt an entire niche industry. More accuracy, better engineering and smarter machinery would unlock more production per hectare.

Rural contractors will be able to play a role in the revamped agricultural plastic recycling scheme with new regulations due for Cabinet sign-off before this year’s election.

In many parts of rural New Zealand, contracting businesses evolve slowly, shaped as much by people and relationships as by machinery and balance sheets. BT Contracting, based in Mangaroa near Upper Hutt, is one such business. Its story is less about rapid expansion and more about continuity, service and adaptation.

There are moments in every season when frustration spills over into the open and for many in the rural transport and contracting world that moment has clearly arrived. The recent stand-off between industry groups, NZTA and the Ministry of Transport over VDAM settings is not just another policy disagreement, it reflects a growing sense that the machinery of government is drifting away from the practical realities of keeping New Zealand moving.

As herbicide costs climb and resistance pressures increase, many New Zealand growers are revisiting mechanical weed control - not as a step backwards but as a smarter, more flexible way forward. The Lemken Thulit weed harrow is a good example of how modern engineering has reshaped a traditional concept into a precise, crop-friendly tool suited to today’s farming systems.

Väderstad, one of the world’s leading companies in tillage, seeding and planting has recently launched the next generation row unit for the Tempo planter. During the last 15 years, Väderstad Tempo has set the global benchmark for high-speed planting precision. The new row unit takes that legacy even further.

For rural contractors and large-scale pastoral operations, April and May are among the most operationally intensive months of the year.

Kevin Beatty from Molong in Central West New South Wales says smaller livestock and crop producers can get ahead when they have the right mindset and the right gear.