Government appoints three new directors to Pāmu board
The Government has appointed three new members to the board of state farmer Landcorp Farming Ltd, trading as Pāmu.
More than 130 of Australasia's leading agribusiness professionals will visit two farms in Pirinoa, South Wairarapa, next week.
The visit, on Wednesday, March 23, is part of the annual Platinum Primary Producers (PPP) 'Capital Connections; winds of change' Conference.
The delegation, which includes well-known industry leaders and commentators such as Steven Carden, CEO of Landcorp Farming Ltd, Prof. Jacqueline Rowarth from the University of Waikato, Malborough farmer, Doug Avery, and James Parsons, chairman of Beef + Lamb NZ, will spend time at the Warren family's Romney stud, Turanganui, and the Weatherstone family's dairy farm, Rotopai.
The field trip concludes a three day event in Wellington discussing the 'winds of change' currently sweeping across the farming landscapes of New Zealand and Australasia. A key component of the Wairarapa visit will be a fundraising event for Pirinoa rural school, which is hoping to upgrade its heat pumps and wifi system.
PPP chairman and local Wairarapa farmer, Shane McManaway, says the PPP Group, which comprises the most influential, positive and innovative agribusiness professionals in Australasia, is always committed to helping rural communities.
"We are visiting two spectacular farms in the tight knit, rural community of Pirinoa. Farms, which I am proud to say, demonstrate farming practices at their absolute best. And I can't think of a better way to show our appreciation than to support the local community hub – Pirinoa School."
The group hopes to raise between $5000 and $10,000 for the school, which will be catering and serving lunch for the delegates.
New Zealand's diverse cheesemaking talent shone brightly last night as the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) crowned the champions of the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards.
Tracing has indicated that the source of the first velvetleaf find of the 2025-26 crop season, in Auckland, was likely maize purchased in the Waikato region.
Fish & Game New Zealand has announced its election priorities in its Manifesto 2026.
With the forage maize harvest started in Northland and the Waikato, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) is telling growers of later crops, or those further south, to start checking their maize crop maturity about three weeks prior to when they think they will start silage harvesting.
Irrigation NZ is warning that the government's Resource Management Act (RMA) reform risks falling short of its objectives unless water use for food production and water storage infrastructure are clearly recognised in the goals at the top of the new system.
More than five million trays, or 18,000 tonnes, of Zespri’s RubyRed Kiwifruit will soon be available for consumers across 16 markets this season.

OPINION: Election years are usually regarded as the silly season, but a mate of the Hound reckons 2026 is shaping…
OPINION: If farmers poured just a few litres of some pollutant into a stream, the Green Party and the wider…