RURAL DELIVERY. 25/07/2009

''Langlois Vine Stripper
Walter Langlois has a history of improving and creating new automation processes and machinery across a variety of industries both in New Zealand and overseas. When he arrived in Marlborough in 2008, he designed a prototype for a vine stripper. After working on the small vineyard he’d bought, he became frustrated by how labour intensive it was to prune and remove vine. He decided there had to be a better way of stripping cane from the vines than pulling them by hand. Walter soon recognized the potential for a machine that would automate the process.

Dawkins Pyramid
Chris Dawkins’ farm, The Pyramid, is a 445ha property in the Waihopai Valley about 25 minutes out of Blenheim. It is a high performance farm that has just completed three years as the local monitor farm. The Pyramid has 8.5km of river frontage at the confluence of the Avon and Waihopai Rivers. At age 23, Chris was offered the opportunity to buy the farm from his parents. The farm was in good shape when he bought it and they have been able to further capitalise with an extensive re-grassing programme.'' TVNZ; tvnz.co.nz; 25/08/2009