Record audience at bull sale
A record number of farmers took part in the largest service bull sale in New Zealand – many from the comfort of their own homes.
Tainui Group Holdings’ annual Hangawera Station Hereford sale, one of the largest of its kind in the North Island, will be held on October 5.
In a first for TGH, a sale will also be held at the Taupo saleyards on October 12.
TGH rural operations manager Ian Mathieson says all the bulls have been tested and there are finance plans available for buyers. From the Hangawera sale the firm will deliver the bulls free anywhere in the country.
“Obviously it’s a tough season for a lot of farmers but we’ve worked hard with our selling agents to make strong finance plans available for buyers.”
PGG Wrightson and RD1 Livestock are agents for the Hangawera Station sale and PGG Wrightson and Central Livestock for Taupo.
Mathieson expects about 150 bulls at the Hangawera Station sale and up to 50 at Taupo.
The Hereford bulls on offer are of mixed age, and the herds consist of 18 to 30 month-olds. All bulls are pure bred, undergo fertility testing, and are double vaccinated and tested for bovine viral diarrhoea and enzootic bovine leukosis prior to being put up for sale.
“We supply a guaranteed animal,” Mathieson says. “We test all bulls to make sure they’re fertile, fit and ready for the job.”
Mathieson is a station manager, farm developer and Hereford trader. A Hereford bull from his herd won the reserve champion category at the 2012 Beef Expo, Fielding.
On the eve of his departure from Federated Farmers board, Richard McIntyre is thanking farmers for their support and words of encouragement during his stint as a farmer advocate.
A project reducing strains and sprains on farm has won the Innovation category in the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards 2025.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), in partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and other sector organisations, has launched a national survey to understand better the impact of facial eczema (FE) on farmers.
One of New Zealand's latest and largest agrivoltaics farm Te Herenga o Te Rā is delivering clean renewable energy while preserving the land's agricultural value for sheep grazing under the modules.
Global food company Nestle’s chair Paul Bulcke will step down at its next annual meeting in April 2026.
Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki has been announced as the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the National Sustainability Showcase at in Wellington this evening.