Last backend, I spent some time travelling through New Zealand, catching up with farmers and contractors throughout the country. While travelling down through the South Island, I caught up with David O’Rourke, a Limerick man and operations manager with Meyer Contracting. Meyer Contracting are based in Waimate and operate a fleet of modern machinery in the South Canterbury area and the Mackenzie District.

Harvesting in excess of 3,000ha (7,413ac) between grass and wholecrop each year, the firm run a fleet of predominantly European-built kit and carry out the vast majority of work within a 40km radius of their base.

From speaking to contractors, JCB seems to be the most popular loading shovel in the country for pushing silage. Not one to follow the crowd, Meyer Contracting runs a John Deere 624 MKII construction loader for pit duties, a brand which certainly wouldn’t be seen to be contesting the agricultural wheel loader market in Ireland.

Weighing in at 15,614kg, this loader's six-cylinder, 6.8l PowerTech engine has been tweaked to turn out 230hp. Read the full story in this week’s paper.