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Russian President Vladimir Putin is a master tactician in taking advantage of international conflicts.
Now he’s on a mission to wean Russians off foreign food and to modernise the dairy industry, where milking is still often done by hand. And he’s getting help from Europe.
Five years after the food embargo banning Dutch gouda and Italian parmesan, Russian companies are trucking in thousands of black-and-white Holstein Friesians from across the border to state-of-the-art milking parlors built with German and Swedish engineering. Russia is now the biggest importer of cows from the European Union and its flagship milk company is German owned.
It’s part of an ambitious Government plan to transform Russia from a major milk importer to self sufficiency within eight years. In the longer term, Russia has set its sights on selling milk to the biggest market of all: China.
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact that, now more than ever, US farmers are being propped up by government welfare – a direct result of Trump’s hardline on its trading partners.
China looks set to play a key role in helping the New Zealand wool sector shift away from trading as a commodity supplier.
If you find a new consumer in a developed wine market, you are taking them from someone else, says Blank Canvas co-founder Sophie Parker-Thomson MW.
The large 2025 harvest will exacerbate the wine industry's "lingering" supply from recent vintages, New Zealand Winegrowers Chief Executive Philip Gregan told attendees at Grape Days events around the country in June.
A Chinese business leader says Chinese investors are unfairly viewed as potential security risks in New Zealand.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling for nominations for director roles in the Eastern North Island and Southern South Island electoral districts.
Going one better than a frustratingly close second place finish at last year's event, the country's top axeman, Jack Jordan of Taumaranui, last weekend won the Stihl Timbersports World Championship individual event in.
Canterbury A&P Association (CAPA) show president Brent Chamberlain says a big development for this year is the Wool Zone, first introduced two years ago as a showplace for everything produced from wool, but now greatly enlarged with its own Wool Marquee and more than 30 trade sites.
Salmonellosis is a serious disease in cattle.
Drench resistance is already hitting farm profits; it's not just a future problem.
Applications are open for Horticulture New Zealand's (HortNZ) 2026 scholarship programme, with 20 funding opportunities available.
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