OSPRI Reduces TB Testing and Lifts Movement Controls in Key Regions
Ospri is reducing TB testing frequencies and movement control measures as the disease risk subsidies in parts of the country.
A chance to celebrate all the good work being done in the red meat sector and tell this to the nation.
That's how the Beef+Lamb NZ chief executive Sam McIvor is describing the new awards being organised by the industry good organisation. He says the Beef+Lamb New Zealand Awards will celebrate the people, the science, technology and innovation that makes NZ's red meat sector world-leading.
The awards are open to all those in the sheep and beef sector, including dairy beef. The categories include, Emerging Achiever Award, People Development Award, Significant Sector Contribution Award, Rural Champion Award, Science and Research Award, Technology Award, Innovation Farming Award and Market Leader Award.
“It is the first time that the red sector has had an opportunity to showcase its excellence, to the industry and the wider public, through an event such as the Beef+Lamb Awards,” McIvor says. “I really encourage anyone working within the sector to consider either entering or nominating a person or organisation that has, or continues to, make a difference to the productivity, profitability, sustainability or well-being of our sector.”
Farmlands are the platinum sponsor for the new awards.
Entries are now open and close at the end of August with the winners being announced at a Gala Showcase in Napier on 20 October.
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.

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