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Sir Lockwood Smith
Sir Lockwood Smith is full of praise for the efficiency of the sheep industry, saying they have done a great job over the years.
He highlights the way they have brought in genes from all sorts of breeds and incorporated these into our base Romney flock.
This has included improving the fertility of the national flock and using terminal sires to improve the growth rate of our lambs, so they are more productive and carbon efficiency.
"Our lamb production is outstandingly good, but our beef industry is miles behind. We still have farmers in NZ who don't have yearling heifers. How can you have carbon efficiency if you don't mate a heifer until she is two years old? Some farmers might say it's difficult, but we have got to do it and we have got to produce animals that can do it," he says.
The big shift that's needed globally, says Smith, is to look at carbon emissions in relation to the nutrient value of a product.
He says when you measure cow's milk and oat milk this way, the cow's milk clearly comes out on top.
He says if NZ and other countries could tie their emissions to this criterion there would be significant progress globally on climate change.
Surprised, humbled and quite thrilled. That’s the reaction of James Allen, one of the founding partners and now chief executive of AgFirst, on being made a life member of the Institute of Rural Professionals.
It was billed as a chance for all the political parties to woo the rural vote, but question marks hang over just how effective this was.
Red meat farmers are welcoming Labour’s plan to review the Emissions Trading Scheme and not to campaign on pricing agricultural emissions.
For the first time in a quarter of a century, Federated Farmers has something positive to say about the Labour Party’s climate change policy leading into a general election.
OPINION: Succession and long-term planning are perennial topics because it is perpetually sidelined on busy farms.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.
Ravensdown shareholders have elected Jane Montgomery and Kate Acland to the Ravensdown Board for three-year terms, following a closely contested director election.
