Farmer confidence dips slightly, but positivity still dominates
Farmer confidence has taken a slight dip according to the final Rabobank rural confidence survey for the year.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander congratulated winners in Rabobank’s FoodBytes! Competition in Sydney last week.
A New Zealand company Knewe Biosystems Ltd was among finalists who pitched their company to potential investors at the Rabobank Food 2 Fork Summit in Sydney last week.
Knewe Biosystems is developing an animal prebiotics product which it says meets critical mineral nutrition needs and also reduces the volume of waste to the environment, both because they cause animals to use their feed more efficiently.
The winner of the event was Australian company Sprout Kitchens which provides a platform for cafe’s and restaurants to rent out their unused kitchen space, outside of normal trading hours.
AgriWebb was the people’s choice winner. AgriWebb is a software company focused on “disrupting antiquated practices in livestock production”.
Their products “enable simplified on-farm, real-time data collection and apply analysis to improve management decision-making, enterprise efficiency, bench-marking and food security transparency, while integrating the farmer across horizontal and vertical supply chains”.
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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