Cuddling cows
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its cows and instead charge visitors to cuddle them.
OPINION: The Three Waters reform is turning into another headache for the Government.
The $3.5 million advertising campaign, which seems to blame regional councils for the poor state of national water infrastructure, hasn't been of much help.
A working group recommended major changes to the proposal but the Government isn't too keen on most of them.
For the rural sector, the major concerns are that all the current water assets owned by individual councils around the country will be taken over by of these four new entities, while the governance of these will allow little or no real local input.
With the Government lagging in latest opinion polls, the Three Waters saga is one less headache the Beehive's ninth flood could do without.
Holstein Friesian excellence was front and centre at the 2025 Holstein Friesian NZ (HFNZ) Awards, held recently in Invercargill.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
This past week has seen another round of negotiations between India and New Zealand to produce a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
The Infrastructure Commission has endorsed a plan by Chorus to expand fibre broadband to 95% of New Zealand much to the delight of rural women.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.