Real results from the field
Hear how operators are using Tow and Fert to save costs, boost pasture, and tailor nutrition to their land.
New Zealand Farmer Stories
Ash Nicholson
Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
Ash Nicholson
Getting a ground drench under the kiwifruit canopy Ash Nicholson is co-founder and CEO of Bay Nutrients, a Bay of Plenty company that makes and supplies Flamingro™, a chitin-based …
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Dave van den Beuken
Waikato, New Zealand
Dave van den Beuken and Jenny Buckley
Following the cows with nitrogen through a Waikato winter . On 120 hectares near Cambridge, Dave van den Beuken and his partner Jenny Buckley milk 360 cows. “We’ve been here for 20…
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Russell Heald
Manawatu, New Zealand
Russell Heald
Not farming the top two inches anymore. For Russell Heald, the shift toward organic and regenerative dairying at Heald Farm in Norsewood wasn’t just a change in inputs, it was a ch…
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Matthew Zonderop
Waikato, New Zealand
Matthew Zonderop
One pass instead of three, and no going back Share milking 420 kiwicross cows across 140 hectares at the foothills of the Kaimai Ranges in Te Poi, Waikato, Matthew Zonderop first s…
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Ian Maxwell
West Coast, New Zealand
Ian Maxwell
Less Nitrogen, on His Own Terms. For West Coast dairy farmer Ian Maxwell, changing how nitrogen is applied has changed how he farms. Before the Tow and Fert, Ian used conventional …
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Amy Stokes
Christchurch, New Zealand
Amy Stokes
Seeking to improve the efficiency of their fertiliser programme, Amy and the family began exploring a different approach to nutrient application. Just outside of Christchurch, Amy …
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Alan Marx
Taranaki, New Zealand
Alan Marx
For Alan Marx, the Tow and Fert was never going to be just a urea sprayer. Alan farms at Mangatoki in Taranaki, fifth generation on the family farm, running crossbred Jerseys acros…
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Ricky Taylor
Canterbury, New Zealand
Ricky Taylor
Bringing liquid fertiliser to Canterbury contracting. Ricky Taylor’s Tow and Fert Ricky Taylor and his wife Rebecca decided to get into contracting fertiliser application in the li…
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Align Farms
Canterbury, New Zealand
Align Farms
Align Farms kept the same urea and changed how it goes on. Align Farms runs five dairy farms and two support farms in Mid Canterbury. When the shareholders asked how the business c…
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Ross McKenzie
Southland, New Zealand
Ross McKenzie
Applying less fertiliser, and putting it on when the pasture needs it. In the Deep South of New Zealand, at Longwood near Riverton, Ross McKenzie switched his fertiliser programme …
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Jeff Bellamy
Taranaki, New Zealand
Jeff Bellamy
Coming from a 180 hectare system 5 farm in the Waikato, with 850 cows scaled down to about 750, to a 50 hectare effective, 70 hectare total block in Mokoia, South Taranaki running …
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Scott Charmley
Dannevirke, New Zealand
Scott Charmley
Scott Charmley farms 214 cows on 78 hectares near Dannevirke, in an equity partnership with his wife and his parents. It’s a System 3 dairy operation, and depending on the season, …
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Cam Shepherd
Auckland, New Zealand
Cam Shepherd
Cam Shepherd operates a progressive New Zealand farming system where pasture performance, timing, and cost control are central to long-term success. Like many farmers, Cam had trad…
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Georgie Galloway
Southland, New Zealand
Georgie Galloway
Half a paddock of urea, and a different way of doing things In 2015 Georgie Galloway joined Graham Marshall and his partner Gail as farm manager on their 160-hectare mixed farm jus…
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Miah Smith
Waikato, New Zealand
Miah Smith
Miah Smith runs a biological fertiliser programme through one machine on hill country near Atiamuri that used to only suit sheep and beef. Atiamuri, in the central North Island jus…
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Stories from around the world
Rex Harris
Byron Shire, NSW, Australia
Rex Harris
Rex Harris and his family run Piccadilly Park, a 60 hectare macadamia plantation near Bangalow in the Byron Shire, home to around 16,500 trees. Eleven years ago, they made the deci…
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Paul Rogers
Proserpine, Australia
Paul Rogers
Rethinking Cane Nutrition, Before the Crop Goes In Paul Rogers farms around 300 hectares of sugar cane near Proserpine in North Queensland, producing roughly 25,000 tonnes a year, …
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Josh Stephens
Camperdown, VIC, Australia
Josh Stephens
From sceptic to contractor. Josh Stephens runs a 900 acre dairy farm milking around 430 cows near Camperdown, Victoria, and also contracts Tow and Fert application to farmers acros…
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Jason Klotz
Bundaberg, QLD, Australia
Jason Klotz
Fine-Tuning Fertiliser Under the Canopy. Jason Klotz grows macadamias across two properties near Bundaberg, Queensland, 80 hectares at the home farm at Elliott Heads and a further …
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Anne-Marie Barrow
Gippsland, Australia
Anne-Marie Barrow
Farming Naturally, On Her Own Terms. For Anne-Marie Barrow and her husband, running a Black Angus stud at Mirboo North, farming naturally has always been the goal, and finding the …
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Dave Shackson
Bundaberg QLD, Australia
Dave Shackson
One machine, 120,000 Trees. For Dave Shackson, farm manager on a 120,000 tree macadamia operation in Bundaberg, the challenge was never about finding a better fertiliser. It was ab…
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Owen Billing
Gippsland, Australia
Owen Billing
A biological system, built paddock by paddock. Owen Billing has always looked to do things differently. In the early 2000s he began working out how he could move to a more biologic…
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Graham Clay
Victoria, Australia
Graham Clay
From organic dairy to contracting with a Multi 2800 Graham Clay farmed conventionally, then organically, on his own dairy farm in Victoria. These days he runs a contracting busines…
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Harry Miller
Devon, England
Harry Miller
Rethinking nitrogen on old arable ground Harry Miller milks 550 spring-calving cows on a grass-based system on the South Devon coast. It’s a rented farm, and when he took it on 12 …
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Geoff Homer
Marlborough, United Kingdom
Geoff Homer
“I can melt urea through this at 70p a litre”: Geoff Homer on foliar, arable and rethinking the jigsaw Geoff Homer had already moved his herds from solid nitrogen to liquid-applied…
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Martin Carew
County Limerick, Ireland
Martin Carew
Martin Carew farms in Bruff, County Limerick, running a spring-calving herd on a grass-based system. Up to three years ago, they were using granulated fertiliser through a spreader…
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John-Paul Herlihy
Kilmallock, Ireland
John-Paul Herlihy
The savings you don’t see on the invoice John-Paul Herlihy milks over 100 cows in Kilmallock, Co.Limerick. His old system was straightforward: nitrogen on a fixed rotation, straigh…
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James and Stephen Downey
County Cork, Ireland
James and Stephen Downey
“Once you get into the rhythm of it, you’ll fly” James Downey farms with his father, Stephen, near Macroom, County Cork, on the banks of the River Lee, milking 128 spring-calving c…
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David Williams
North East, Wales
David Williams
We’re learning… I don’t think we’ve barely scratched the surface of what is possible. David Williams farms 120 hectares in North East Wales, running an all-grass, 260-cow spring ca…
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Ben and Denise
Bawnmore, Ireland
Ben and Denise
Backing liquid to beat the weather Ben and Denise have farmed at Bawncross Farm in Bawnmore since the mid-1980s, and tried plenty of approaches along the way. It was a few Tow and …
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Conor O'Leary
Donoughmore, Ireland
Conor O’Leary
Conor O’Leary, Donoughmore, County Cork. Three full seasons on foliar, in his own words. Conor O’Leary farms at Donoughmore, County Cork, with his wife Rina. They milk 120 cows on …
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Pete and Henry Wastenage
Devon, England
Wastenage Farms
Nitrogen isn’t always the limiting factor, on Wastenage Farms System Henry and Pete Wastenage run a multi-sited, block-calving dairy operation in Devon, built around grazed grass m…
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James Hughes
Carmarthenshire, Wales
James Hughes
James Hughes: cutting nitrogen costs with foliar application in West Wales James Hughes has always believed that grass is the most valuable crop on his farm. Running almost 700 spr…
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Simon Leverett
Carmarthenshire, Wales
Simon Leverett
Foliar spraying in Wales: Should I put the fert out and hope it rains tomorrow? Capel Isaac, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales 150 acre council farm, 125 cows, spring calving, main…
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Robin & Torin Nicolson
Pembrokeshire, Wales
Robin and Torin Nicolson
Prompted by science: from a dissertation to a Tow and Fert Robin & Torin Nicolson are a father and son duo who run a dairy farm in the heart of Pembrokeshire. With 200 dairy cows a…
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Rob Davies
Carmarthenshire, Wales
Rob Davies
Cutting the fertiliser bill without changing how the farm runs Farmer: Rob Davies Location: Carmarthenshire, Wales Machine: Tow and Fert Multi 2800 Farming System: Dairy, 250 cows,…
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