Halter goes global, but NZ farmers remain core to innovation
Virtual fencing company Halter is going global but for founder Craig Piggott, New Zealand farmers will always remain their main partners.
The investment will bring broadband services to rural households that are currently without access to the internet, says Faafoi.
The Government will spend $15 million to improve rural broadband.
The money will be used to upgrade some existing rural mobile towers, upgrade wireless backhaul, which connects remote sites to central networks, and install external antennae on households to improve coverage
Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister Kris Faafoi says the investment will bring broadband services to rural households that are currently without access to the internet.
He says it will mean remote communities are better equipped to get going again when we exit lockdown.
“With the impacts of COVID-19 seeing increasing numbers of New Zealanders using broadband for education, work and maintaining links with friends and whānau, connectivity is more important than ever before,” he says
Faafoi says while the Government’s aim is to provide access to around 99.8% of New Zealanders, some households in isolated regions require reliable access to broadband services in light of COVID-19 – particularly households with school-age children who need internet access for remote learning.
He says this new work brings forward capacity upgrades to meet increased demand for the internet where the urgency is most critical.
The sale of Fonterra’s global consumer and related businesses is expected to be completed within two months.
Fonterra is boosting its butter production capacity to meet growing demand.
For the most part, dairy farmers in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Tairawhiti and the Manawatu appear to have not been too badly affected by recent storms across the upper North Island.
South Island dairy production is up on last year despite an unusually wet, dull and stormy summer, says DairyNZ lower South Island regional manager Jared Stockman.
Following a side-by-side rolling into a gully, Safer Farms has issued a new Safety Alert.
Coming in at a year-end total at 3088 units, a rise of around 10% over the 2806 total for 2024, the signs are that the New Zealand farm machinery industry is turning the corner after a difficult couple of years.

OPINION: Meanwhile, red blooded Northland politician Matua Shane Jones has provided one of the most telling quotes of the year…
OPINION: This old mutt has been around for a few years now and it seems these ‘once in 100-year’ weather…