“Our award recipients are showing there is a lot of potential for the sector, especially that there is hope for the future of wool,” said New Zealand National Fieldays Society programme manager Steve Chappell.
It was a record-year for the awards in terms of the number of entries with 62 participants having shared their ideas and products in the Fieldays Innovation Hub and around the event.
The top five short-listed finalists in each category were then judged by a panel of 15 sector experts.
The Innovation Award in the category Prototype went to Fleecegrow from Auckland.
The business won the award for its sustainable merino wool replacement for rockwool and peat used in greenhouse growing.
Head judge Peter Dowd said, “Not only does Fleecegrow convert a waste product into something valuable, but it does it by providing an environmentally superior planting material for commercial growers.”
KiwiFibre, of Christchurch, won the Early-Stage Award with its regenerative composite textile made from harakeke fibre. This textile can replace or complement conventional carbon fibre and fibreglass materials in high-performance applications.
They already gained the attention of the automobile industry: Together with Hyundai, KiwiFibre revealed New Zealand rally driver Hayden Paddon’s brand-new electric rally car, which uses KiwiFibre for the front and rear bumpers and roof.
Fellow head judge Shane Dooley said he loved this “21st-century application of a traditional iwi material” that has been used for a thousand years.
“KiwiFibre is a clever application of materials technology and engineering to create a high-performance and sustainable product.”
WoolAid won the Growth & Scale Award. Its hyper-fine merino wool plaster impressed the judges with its strong ambition to scale.
The breathable plaster can absorb large quantities of moisture, moving it away to evaporate into the open air and biodegrade in the soil in approximately four months.
WoolAid has already gained considerable international traction, with third head judge Brendan O’Connell commenting, “WoolAid has demonstrated an exceptional understanding of user needs and profound knowledge and capability.”
Meanwhile, the Young Innovator Award, for entrants 19 years old and under, went to St Peter’s Cambridge student Penny Ranger for her Mark-It tool. Mark-It is designed to streamline the drenching process for sheep by leaving an ink mark on the side of the sheep’s mouth.
The three head judges commented that Ranger showed “wisdom beyond her years” and was well down the road towards commercial success with a product that solves a sheep farming issue in a remarkably simple way.
“It is a classic Kiwi solution that simplifies an important task while helping save money and waste,” Dowd said.
This year, the Innovation Awards introduced a new category - People’s Choice - for which all 62 award participants were in the running.
The public was able to vote for their favourite by tapping their Fieldays Smart Band at the kiosk at the Fieldays Innovation Hub.
In the end, Iona College Havelock North students and young innovators Phoebe Butler and Maddie Foote won people’s hearts - and $2000 - for their innovation Wool Be Studying, a study pod made from NZ raw materials.
Fieldays 2024 Innovation Award winners People's Choice category: Phoebe Butler and Maddie Foote with their study pod made of wool.
The Fieldays Innovation Awards provide a platform for creative problem solvers to launch, test and promote their ideas.
“As our primary industry is met with new and different challenges, it’s innovations like these that will equip us with the tools that we need to thrive,” Chappell said.
“The Fieldays Innovation Awards are putting us at the forefront of what is emerging. It is exciting to see some of New Zealand’s greatest minds, along with entries from around the world, and celebrate their hard work in creating and developing ways to improve and foster the industry.”
