There was no shortage of ideas for Year 13 agribusiness students at St Paul’s Collegiate School when it came to inventing a new agribusiness product.
As part of their agribusiness studies, the 17-year-old students were instructed to create a product or service and pitch their concept to a panel of industry experts in a ‘dragon’s den’ style presentation. The top three inventions then got to exhibit their prototype to thousands of attendees at the 2021 NZ National Fieldays.
The winning concept was a product called Tape Cage, a roll cage made from alkathene pipe that attaches to ATVs and acts as a time saver for farmers by allowing them to drive safely under electrical tape gates without having to get off their vehicles.
The product was designed by Luther Yates, Brad Foster, Thomas Matthews and Thomas Came.
“We would like to develop the product further by inserting metal rods into the alkathene to prevent vehicles from rolling. We are aware of the number of accidents on farms using ATVs and this additional design feature may just help address farm and quad bike-related accidents,” said Foster.
Second place went to WoolWrap designed by Cole Hood, George Oliver and Nick Healy. WoolWrap is a wool-based alternative to plastic silage and hay netting. It is 100 percent biodegradable, eco-friendly and promotes sustainable farming.
Whoof, third-place getter, is a healthy alternative dog treat using the byproduct of horse hoof trimmings turning them into a less processed treat. Maddie Kitchener, Lincoln Winter, Oscar Coxhead, Sam Ward and Toby Robb came up with the concept as the industry looks to improve the quality of pet food products and noticed how farm dogs were attracted to chewing horse hoof trimmings.
The group demonstrated just how popular their treats were by bringing along a dog and feeding her the treats as part of their presentation.
All three groups have been exhibiting their inventions at Fieldays, vying for the title of ‘Young Inventor of the Year’.
