Ravensdown Named Naming Rights Sponsor of A&P Show
Farmer owned co-operative Ravensdown has signed a two-year naming rights sponsorship of the Canterbury A&P Show.
Ravensdown has appointed Steve Belton as the new regional manager, Western North Island.
He replaces long-serving employee Mike Davey, who retires on March 31. Belton takes over on February 3: the two-month overlap will help make for an easier transition for both staff and the local farming community.
Belton says Davey is leaving behind some big boots to fill.
Raised on a sheep and beef farm near the North Canterbury township of Waikari, farming is in Belton’s blood.
After graduating from Lincoln University with an agricultural science degree, Belton began his career in the rural sector. Not long after, he landed his first role at Ravensdown as an account manager based out of Nelson.
After six years in the role, he went on to work as an agronomist and finance manager before coming back to Ravensdown in 2017 as the Upper North Island Regional Manager.
The father of two says that the move to Taranaki will be a big change for both himself and his family, but he’s keen to hit the ground running and is looking forward to the challenge.
“One of my first tasks will be to meet local farmers, learn about the environment and their needs and make myself available to my new community.”
After 35 years with Farmer’s Fertiliser Ltd and more than 20 with Ravensdown, Davey is calling it a day.
“I’m going to miss it, but the locals will still see me around,” he says.
New Zealand dairy farmers are set to be the first in the world to receive access to a new digital physical milk pricing tool that enables them to fix the price for their physical milk.
State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.
A five-year study has found that the cost of reducing emissions without technology may be significant and unsustainable for Northland dairy farmers.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
While the Government has moved quickly to make commercial hauliers' lot easier during the current fuel crisis, they appear to be stuck in the creep box when it comes to the agricultural industry.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.

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