DWN Appoints Nicola Bryant as Associate Trustee
Dairy Women's Network (DWN) has announced that Taranaki dairy farmer Nicola Bryant will join its Trust Board as an Associate Trustee.
A new partnership between Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) and NZAgbiz aims to make evidence-based calf rearing practices accessible to all farm teams.
A Fonterra subsidiary, family, NZAgbiz specialises in manufacturing and supplying dairy-based animal nutrition products, including milk replacers and supplements.
The company says it achieves this by transforming downgraded milk ingredients from processing plants into high-quality nutritional products for calves. Designed with best-practice rearing principles in mind and an emphasis on setting calves up for strong early growth, resilience and lifetime performance.
DWN chief executive, Jules Benton, says the partnership aligns perfectly with DWN’s purpose of empowering our people with valuable knowledge and tools to increase farm productivity.
“NZAgbiz brings respected expertise and trusted products to the table, and their passion for supporting farmers at both national and local levels makes them an ideal partner for our network,” says Benton.
“Our members will be provided opportunities to access high-quality, research-backed information, and tools to improve young animal health and farm productivity, from a team that truly understands the realities of farming life.”
NZAgbiz general manager Sam Allnutt says partnering with DWN means we can share our knowledge, while learning ourselves, to continue to improve on rearing practices in New Zealand.
“Rearing young animals isn’t just about what to feed — it’s about understanding and initiating rearing practices that allow an animal to reach its full potential,” Allnut says.
“We’re passionate about empowering kiwi farmers with knowledge, informed by recent scientific and applied research, that allows them to unlock success.”
The first NZAgbiz Autumn Calf Rearing workshop is being held in Te Kauwhata on Tuesday 24 February, followed by webinars available nationwide to ensure all members have access to expert-led learning, no matter where they are based.
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) has released its 2026 election manifesto, outlining priorities to support the sector’s growth, resilience, and contribution to New Zealand’s food security and export revenue.
Farmers have voted to continue the Milksolids Levy that funds DairyNZ.
Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell has resigned after eight years in the role.
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.

OPINION: Election years are usually regarded as the silly season, but a mate of the Hound reckons 2026 is shaping…
OPINION: If farmers poured just a few litres of some pollutant into a stream, the Green Party and the wider…