Fieldays’ sustainability credentials getting greener
The New Zealand National Fieldays Society has achieved a major sustainability milestone - reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and reaching the target five years early.
Concerns about Mycoplasma bovis don’t appear to have hit farmers’ enthusiasm for Fieldays.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor told Rural News on the first day of the event that he detected a very positive mood.
A total of 24,633 visited on day one to see the 1400 sites in this 50th year of the farming event now recognised as world-leading.
“For a start, the sky hasn’t fallen in with advent of the new government. I have been amazed at the number of people here,” O’Connor says. The better payout has helped and people are enjoying getting out to see what is always a better event because they try harder every year to improve things.”
Waikato farmer John Kneebone, a co-founder of the Fieldays Society, remarked to Rural News on the “amazing evolution” of Fieldays and said it never occurred to him in 1968 that it would become what it is today.
Farmers, exhibitors of equipment and services, and politicians of every hue have made Fieldays a must-attend on their ‘press-the-flesh’ calendar. – Peter Burke
Legal controls on the movement of fruits and vegetables are now in place in Auckland’s Mt Roskill suburb, says Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis.
Arable growers worried that some weeds in their crops may have developed herbicide resistance can now get the suspected plants tested for free.
Fruit growers and exporters are worried following the discovery of a male Queensland fruit fly in Auckland this week.
Dairy prices have jumped in the overnight Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, breaking a five-month negative streak.
Alliance Group chief executive Willie Wiese is leaving the company after three years in the role.
A booklet produced in 2025 by the Rotoiti 15 trust, Department of Conservation and Scion – now part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute – aims to help people identify insect pests and diseases.

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