Big day at Clash of the Colleges
Craighead Diocesan, Darfield High School and Christchurch Boys' High School took out the three age groups at the Canterbury Clash of the Colleges, which was held at the recent Ashburton A&P Show.
Applications are now open for the Agri Futures Scholarships, helping young Kiwis from rural backgrounds kickstart careers in agriculture and rural sports.
This year, up to 14 scholarships will be awarded, up from nine last year, to support secondary school leavers who've competed in Clash of the Colleges events and are pursuing further education or cadetships and rural sports athletes under 20 who are studying or training.
"We're all about inspiring and supporting the next generation in agriculture and rural sports," says Agri Futures general manager Daniel O'Regan.
Most are open nationwide, but two are reserved for Manawatu/Palmerston North students, recognising their support for the NZ Rural Games.
One is dedicated to South Otago, thanks to the Balclutha-based company, Danone.
Funding comes from a Ford NZ Rural Sports Awards that features signed memorabilia from stars like Dylan Schmidt (Olympics), Erica Dawson (Sailing), Sir Wayne Smith (Black Ferns), and Tim Southee (Black Caps) and from Agri Futures and partners, including Danone and the NZ Rural Games Trust (supporting Otago University sport science student scholarship).
Applications close at 5pm on Friday, 29th August 2025. Successful applicants will be notified on Tuesday, September 30th.
Rural Sports athlete applicants are welcome from any New Zealand rural sport, including, as an example, harness racing, wood chopping, shearing, rural fencing, tree climbing, highland games, sheep dog trials, gumboot throwing, ploughing, equestrian, motocross, shooting and thoroughbred racing.
The 2026 Holstein Friesian NZ Black & White Youth Auction has once again proven the strength of support behind the breed’s young people, raising $20,130 for the HFNZ Black & White Youth programme.
Westpac NZ has become the first New Zealand bank to receive approval from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to secure and leverage kiwifruit growers' Zespri shares.
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) and Pāmu (Landcorp Farming Limited) have developed a new way for landowners to earn revenue from existing native forests.
Despite near universal optimism in the rural sector, a panel of New Zealand’s leading food and agri minds caution that the sector must be intentional about its future path.
The dairy industry cannot rest on its laurels despite providing one in every four export dollars earned by the country, says DairyNZ chief executive Campbell Parker.
The Government is looking at intervening on behalf of Waikato farmers who face new regulations around agricultural land use while Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms are underway.
OPINION: Another hot topic at Mystery Creek was the intrigue over the upcoming election for the presidency of Federated Farmers.
OPINION: It's election time.