The Northland Regional Council is expected to decide by next week whether any enforcement action will follow the 44km-long spillage of liquid sulphur from Ruakaka to Whangārei.An equipment failure in a tanker caused 400kg of…
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Northland orchard loses 70 per cent of avocados to thieves
A Northland avocado grower says thieves have stripped his orchard of up to 70 per cent of the fruit – at a loss of about $100,000 – which is pointless as it is months away from being ready to harvest.Graeme Burgess, of Kaikohe,…
M. bovis puts cattle section in doubt at October’s Royal Show in Hastings
Cattle could be missing from the Royal New Zealand Show because of the mycoplasma bovis scare.With the show just three months away, on October 17, show hosts the Hawke’s Bay A&P Society is expected to decide next week whether to…
Hastings meat company First Light grabs gold at World Steak Challenge
Innovative Hastings meat company First Light has suddenly become the little mouse that roared by claiming two major steak awards in less than a month, including a rare win for New Zealand beef overseas.Its grass-fed Wagyu rib-eye,…
Your weather: Rain, thunderstorms to batter upper North Island
The upper North Island is about to be battered by rain and potential thunderstorms as a small front moves in from the Tasman Sea. The moist, northerly flow will keep temperatures warmer than usual, with highs today in the mid to…
Super grass is here, and it’s a green breakthrough. Can Greens stomach it?
A new strain of ryegrass developed in NZ promises to reduce water … is a science breakthrough and holds great potential for New Zealand farmers.
Sowing new seeds
Damien O’Connor is shaking up old thinking on agri-food with his ginger group, he tells Fran O’Sullivan. Moral philosophising is not what urbanites would expect to hear from Damien O’Connor whose roots are firmly embedded in dairy…
The business of diversity
New Zealand primary industries are ripe for opportunity, if we want it, writes Richard Hegan. The urban-rural divide debate isn’t new. It’s been a regular topic of conversation over the past 12 months, particularly as the spotlight…
An opportunity to modernise DIRA
John Monaghan on the need to evolve New Zealand’s dairy regulations. With the New Zealand dairy industry providing more than 25 per cent of the country’s exported products, the Government’s review of the Dairy Industry Restructuring…
Environment at farming forefront
Compliance carries a considerable investment in time, resourcing and ongoing cost, writes Mark Hiddleston. From now on, the environment has to sit at the front of a business model — it can’t be growth first, environment second.With…