Let the games begin!
New Zealand's largest celebration of rural sports athletes and enthusiasts – New Zealand Rural Games - is back for its 10th edition, kicking off in Palmerston North from Thursday, March 6th to Sunday, March 9th, 2025.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
The resolution, proposed by the US and adopted by consensus, invites FAO in collaboration with other UN Rome-based Agencies, to facilitate the implementation and observance of the International Year of the Woman Farmer.
It also invites UN Member States, organisations of the United Nations System, other international organisations and stakeholders, including civil society, private sector and academia, to increase awareness of the crucial role women farmers around the world play in agrifood systems, as well as their contributions to food security, nutrition and poverty eradication.
In this regard, the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 is designed to serve as a platform for the adoption of effective policies and actions against the barriers and challenges women farmers face across agrifood systems, as well as to promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women in agriculture.
The observance will also highlight the role of peasant women and other rural women in ensuring the economic survival of their families and contributing to both the rural and national economies.
Recent rain has offered respite for some from the ongoing drought.
New Zealand's TBfree programme has made great progress in reducing the impact of the disease on livestock herds, but there’s still a long way to go, according to Beef+Lamb NZ.
With much of the North Island experiencing drought this summer and climate change projected to bring drier and hotter conditions, securing New Zealand’s freshwater resilience is vital, according to state-owned GNS Science.
OPINION: Otago farmer and NZ First MP Mark Patterson is humble about the role that he’s played in mandating government agencies to use wool wherever possible in new and refurbished buildings.
For Wonky Box co-founder Angus Simms, the decision to open the service to those in rural areas is a personal one.
The golden age of orcharding in West Auckland was recently celebrated at the launch of a book which tells the story of its rise, then retreat in the face of industry change and urban expansion.
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