Bulk wine exports surpass packaged wine volumes
Data from February 2025 shows volumes of bulk wine exports exceeded packaged wine.
Associate Agriculture Minister Meka Whaitiri says new Government funding will help women pave the way to farming for the future.
She says the Government has committed $473,261 over two years through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI’s) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund to “enable and empower women working in the dairy sector”.
“Supporting these women to reach their farming leadership potential will deliver long lasting economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits to New Zealand,” says Whaitiri.
“This programme aims to create more value, develop new practices and support our extremely capable rural women into the future, it will also ensure diversity in the primary sector leadership of Aotearoa NZ which I welcome.”
The funding will support the Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) to leading the Farming for the Future Leader’s Programme, which will pilot a programme of wrap-around services for women.
These services include the development of training content and a central knowledge hub, as well as coaching to support female business group leaders in the dairy sector.
The programme will support DWN members to innovate and implement solutions to problems shared by their farm businesses. They will be able to share their knowledge with their wider communities and with DWN’s 11,000 members.
“The members of the programme will create a positive impact that is far reaching, by providing channels to share solutions and innovations with their businesses, partners, farm teams, neighbours and communities,” Whaitiri says.
She says the Government is committed to working with regional communities to help them reach their economic and social potential.
“These strong social connections and access to tools and support from this programme will help build resilience, both for these women and for their farming businesses,” Whaitiri says.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
OPINION: The world is bracing for a trade war between the two biggest economies.
OPINION: In the same way that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, economists sometimes get it right.
OPINION: The proposed RMA reforms took a while to drop but were well signaled after the election.