Industrial Hemp Regulations Revoked as New Zealand Opens New Era for Hemp Industry
From last week, the Industrial Hemp Regulations 2006 have been revoked.
The Ministry of Primary Industries says work continues at pace on a large farming operation in the South Canterbury/Oamaru area to manage the bacterial cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis.
Currently one farm in the Van Leeuwen Dairy Group of farms has confirmed test results that are positive for the disease. Tests have been carried out on stock on other farms in the enterprise.
The Ministry has 16 individual properties within the operation under Restricted Place Notices controlling the movement of stock and other risk goods off the farms.
MPI’s regional controller Dr Chris Rodwell says the situation is well under control with support from the affected farm owner and farm managers.
“I cannot speak highly enough of the affected farmer and his staff. They’re working closely with us during what is a difficult and stressful time for them and I applaud their level of professionalism.”
MPI’s focus is to identify affected stock and contain the disease. This is being done by isolating the affected farms. The farmer concerned has euthanised a small number of animals voluntarily for animal welfare reasons.
“At this time we are still determining the scale of this situation through on-farm sampling and testing, and tracing of movements of stock on and off the properties.
Meridian Energy says it welcomes the Fast-Track Panel's draft decision proposing the easing of access restrictions on Lake Pūkaki hydro storage for a three-year period.
The science underpinning New Zealand's dairy, beef and sheep grazing systems was largely established from the 1950s onward, but new analysis shows that the climate those systems were built for has shifted significantly.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) has unveiled a new tool to help sheep farmers better understand the genetics in their flock and make more informed decisions.
Classified as an unwanted organism under the Biosecurity Act, the invasive weed velvetleaf can be resistant to many herbicides, making it difficult to control, while statistics note it has the potential to reduce yields by up to 70%.
Zespri's sales of kiwifruit for the 2025 season have broken all past records.
Trainee orchard manager Luke St John has won the Central Otago 2026 Young Grower regional title.

OPINION: While we're on the topic of lumberjacks, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has no doubt used a chainsaw hundreds of…
OPINION: To a chorus of crying greenies, and not a minute too soon, the Government has moved to put the…