TechniPharm gets Spikey at Fieldays
An innovation new to Fieldays aims to reduce nitrate leaching and earn farmers money
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC0QIga5-28
Spikey makes it’s big debut this year at Fieldays.
The new innovation promises to earn money for farmers and reduce nitrate leaching.
Mechatronics engineer and inventer of Spikey Geoff Bates, says it’s a good invention for any farmer looking to make money.
“Not all farmers have to do something about nitrate leaching, but the key thing about the technology is it grows more grass, so the farmer makes more money,†Bates said.
One Spikey costs $40,000, which Bates is hoping to sell six of this year.
The mechatronics engineer said first sales with novel products are hard, but looks to have made at least one Fieldays sale.
Spikey works by using a chemical called NBPT which helps spread the patches of cows’ urine, then another component called Gibberellic acid helps the grass grow.
The outcome is that you get twice as much grass growing on the urine patch that you would have otherwise, because it’s using up the nitrate.
This then helps the environment by stopping the nitrate from entering rivers where it can cause eutrophication.
