| 79 Love of ag contracting passed down 2025 Claas Jaguar 980 self propelled Forage Harvester with a 10 row maize head. Janine, Greg, Luke and Taylah Sowry. Aimee Wilson In a small rural community near Whangarei, Sowry Contracting is making a big impact across Northland. Greg and Janine Sowry started with just a single truck in their Glenbervie based business more than 30 years ago, and as they grew, their love of agricultural contracting was passed down through the family. Son Luke is the Operations Manager and daughter Taylah works in Human Resources and runs the office. Sowry Contracting has an impressive array of machinery ranging from 3 self-propelled harvesters, 3 maize planters, 11 tractors (both tracked and wheels), 6 trucks, 2 JCB loaders, a digger, mowers and a variety of cultivating gear including a striptill. Like any industry there are many challenges, and for agricultural contracting, having quality machinery is vital. “Breakdowns and repairs are very expensive and never happen at a convenient time which is why we buy new equipment and regularly update. The repayments of the machines are a lot higher than second hand, but our customers have the confidence of getting their crops harvested reliably and timely.” Weather always impacts the agricultural industry, and for contractors, timing is everything. In drier drought conditions, everything must be planted or harvested at twice the usual pace, and on the flip side, warm and wet weather results in heavier yields and difficult ground conditions for harvesting. “We’re hopeful that the public will continue to want milk in their lattes and cheese on their crackers. RURAL SERVICES » Greg Sowry Contracting Ltd Our role to our clients is to offer a reliable efficient service with skilled operators. Also to ensure our dairy clients have the right amount of seasonal and stored feed to keep their herds well-fed, even as pasture growth fluctuates in our ever changing climate, from Gabrielle floods to droughts.” Greg said there have been significant advancements in machinery over the past 30 years. “What used to take us a full day can now be done in just an hour or two. However, the cost of that same machine now compared to back then is astounding. As a result, most contractors have had to shift to a warehouse-style approach, focusing on volume with a small markup.” Modern machinery has seen significant technological advancements, including being able to automatically adjust chop lengths based on the moisture level of the dry matter content. “Our new maize shredlage kernal processors increases the surface area of the chopped material many times over, this increases the physically effective fibre content of the maize silage in the cows rumen.” Greg said most significant advancement has been the introduction of the harvest labs that are in the latest harvesters. “Yield mapping tracks dry matter and provides accurate data on the tonnage amounts per hectare and total wet tonnes and dry matter harvested - this lets the client know at the completion of the job exactly how much dry matter they have in the stack so the client can do his feed budget accordingly.” “We’re hopeful that the public will continue to want milk in their lattes and cheese on their crackers.” Trusted since 1915 Supplying quality nutrition and forage solutions available from your local rural retailer. Quality ISO 9001 Registered For more information on this subject call... Call 0800 REMEDY (736 339) www.nutritech.co.nz right hybrid for your operation. Corson Maize: Proud to support Northland maize growers. We’re committed to supporting Sowry Contracting and standing With a full range of high-performing maize hybrids suited to Northland’s unique conditions, Corson Maize is here to help growers maximise yield and quality. Come on over and grow with us. 0800 4 MAIZE (62493) | corsonmaize.co.nz PWS 2441
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