DairyNZ project wins national award
A project reducing strains and sprains on farm has won the Innovation category in the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards 2025.
Over 300 farmers and rural professionals have gathered in Hamilton for the first DairyNZ Farmers Forum for this year.
Opening the event, DairyNZ chair Tracy Brown says at events like the Farmers Forum in New Zealand, dairy farmers have charted their own path forward.
“Today we stand here, many of us, as dairy farmers, who are also businesspeople, soil scientists, agronomists, technologists, economists, geneticists, vets. We know we must keep learning but also rely on prior knowledge.
“We must do our analysis but also trust our gut.”
Brown says throughout the ages New Zealand dairy farmers have quietly built not just enormous skillsets to optimise their individual operation, but they have built industry-good assets that everyone relies upon today.
“The highest standards of animal welfare in the world are an asset to us all, as are the strides we make each day in environmental performance while maintaining business viability.
“We operate systems that are among the most emissions-efficient on the globe.
“The lowest cost producers of dairy because we are pasture fed – with a grass to glass efficiency story like no other.
“We have always created and adopted new tools, new solutions, had new ideas and we have always ensured this all works in the paddock, not just on paper.”
Two more Farmers Forum will be held in the South Island.
In a surprise move, Federated Farmers meat and wool group has dumped its chair Toby Williams.
Former MP and Southland farmer Eric Roy has received the Outstanding Contribution to New Zealand’s Primary Industries Award.
OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.
Fonterra Whareroa wrapped up a successful season with a record-breaking cheese production volume and several gongs at the co-op's annual Best Site Cup awards.
A new publication has been launched that offers a comprehensive and up-to-date resource on commercially available grazing pasture species in New Zealand.
The New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF) has announced Felicity Roxburgh will take over as its new executive director.
OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.
OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.