Groundbreaking test paves the way
Hamilton-based Hill Labs has introduced a new test to detect earthworm eDNA levels in soils, claiming that it marks a significant development in soil health assessment.
Leading analytical testing organisation, Hill Laboratories has appointed Lorrae Taylor as client services manager for the organisation's food and bioanalytical division.
Taylor has nearly four decades of nationwide experience working in laboratories, or with laboratories to provide proficiency services testing.
Taylor says Hill Laboratories' client services teams, which are effective in all three of the company's divisions, are what sets the organisation apart from most other analytical testing laboratories.
"At Hill Laboratories we recognise that clients often have queries about the testing process, so we have strong client services teams to provide guidance on the best testing to meet client's needs," she says.
"I am passionate about not just meeting clients' needs, but exceeding them."
Taylor began her career at Bay of Plenty Cooperative Milk Producers Ltd, a Te Puke dairy laboratory where she spent 17 years first as a lab technician and eventually as lab supervisor.
Following this she undertook the role of laboratory manager at multi species processing facility Affco in Rangiuru, where she remained for six years.
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.
Philip and Lyneyre Hooper of the Hoopman Family Trust have tonight been named the Taranaki Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.

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