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Federated Farmers’ Southland territory manager Laura Sanford with her Subaru.
Subaru of New Zealand recently struck a deal with Federated Farmers to equip its national territory managers with all-wheel-drive Subarus to help them do their jobs.
Laura Sanford, Feds territory manager team leader and Southland territory manager uses her Subaru Outback 2.5L Premium as her mode of transport and her workplace.
“The Subaru is my office, taking me up and down farm driveways, to farm field days and farmer meetings daily. It’s got plenty of boot space for all our gear, especially banners and flags,” she says.
Based in Invercargill, known for bearing the brunt of New Zealand’s wild weather, Sanford says she is glad to have Subaru’s AWD keeping her safe on the southern roads.
“The Subaru excels on slippery farm access tracks and the loose winding gravel roads of the south-west Fiordland boundary or Southland’s Orepuki - Tuatapere highway.”
She especially likes the car’s integral camera and blind spot warning system built into the wing mirrors.
“This is one of my favourite safety features; passengers in the car are blown away by it, particularly farmers used to driving big utes with large A-pillars that seem to add to the blind spot problem.”
According to the latest Federated Farmers banking survey, farmers are more satisfied with their bank and less under pressure, however, the sector is well short of confidence levels seen last decade.
OPINION: Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ to highlight the most troublesome farm pests – a serious issue that needs some urgent attention from the Beehive.
Farmers are welcoming the announcement of two new bills to replace the under-fire Resource Management Act.
The Government has announced it will immediately roll over all resource consents for two years, with legislation expected to pass under urgency as early as this week.
Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping "The Twelve Days of Christmas" for "The Twelve Pests of Christmas" in an effort to highlight the most troublesome farm pests.
Farmer interest continues to grow as a Massey University research project to determine the benefits or otherwise of the self-shedding Wiltshire sheep is underway. The project is five years in and has two more years to go. It was done mainly in the light of low wool prices and the cost of shearing. Peter Burke recently went along to the annual field day held Massey's Riverside farm in the Wairarapa.
Applications are now open for the 2026 NZI Rural Women Business Awards, set to be held at Parliament on 23 July.
Ravensdown has announced a collaboration with Kiwi icon, Footrot Flats in an effort to bring humour, heart, and connection to the forefront of the farming sector.
Forest & Bird's Kiwi Conservation Club is inviting New Zealanders of all ages to embrace the outdoors with its Summer Adventure Challenges.
Grace Su, a recent optometry graduate from the University of Auckland, is moving to Tauranga to start work in a practice where she worked while participating in the university's Rural Health Interprofessional Programme (RHIP).
Two farmers and two farming companies were recently convicted and fined a total of $108,000 for environmental offending.
