McRae Wins Southern South Island B+LNZ Director Vote
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.
Lamb will be served on most Kiwi Christmas dinner tables this year, according to the Great Kiwi Christmas Survey.
The poll, run by Retail Meat New Zealand in conjunction with Beef + Lamb New Zealand and NZPork, is in its fifth year.
The survey of over 1,000 Kiwis covered everything from what style of Christmas they will be having to the appropriate time to start playing Christmas music.
For Christmas dinner, lamb won out as the chosen meat this Christmas with 38.3% of the vote, taking over from last year’s winner Ham (35%).
Beef was third in line, with 13.1%.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive Kit Arkwright says the holiday season is a great time of year for Kiwis to come together and celebrate with family and friends.
“Food is always an important part of celebrations at this time of the year and it’s no surprise that New Zealand lamb will be the centrepiece for many Kiwis as they celebrate the festive season,” Arkwright says. “It’s a traditional favourite for the Christmas table and is not only delicious but can easily feed a crowd.”
Of those polled 36.8% said they expect to have ten or more people for Christmas Day and 40.2% will spend 2-3 days preparing for their Christmas feast. 58.3% said they will be eating their main Christmas meal between midday and 2pm on Christmas Day with 24% eating after 2pm in the afternoon.
Cooking their Christmas meal in an oven came out top of the poll with the BBQ following closely behind.
61.8% said they expect to have at least 2 days’ worth of leftovers to wade through and of course, Christmas isn’t Christmas without a mouth-watering dessert and once again pavlova took out top spot with 68.5% having this iconic kiwi dessert on their Christmas menu. Trifle followed by strawberries and ice cream were second and third in line respectively as sweet treats.
Healthy snacking company Rockit has announced Wang Yibo, one of China's most influential celebrities, as its new brand ambassador.
Rabobank has celebrated the tenth anniversary of its AgPathways Programme, with 23 farmers from Otago and Southland gathering for two-and-a-half days to learn new business management and planning skills.
Adopting strategies to reduce worm burden on farm goes hand-in--hand with best practice farm management practices to optimise stock production and performance, veterinarian Andrew Roe says.
Last night saw the winners of the 2026 Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) Awards named at a gala dinner at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre.
A 12-month pathway programme has helped kickstart a career in dairy for an 18-year-old student-turned-farmer.
Zespri says its global fruit sales revenue has reached a record NZ$5.9 billion from sales of 248.1 million trays.

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