Bridging the gap with rural New Zealand
OPINION: One thing I keep hearing from rural New Zealanders is the importance of relationships. Strong relationships don’t just happen - they take trust, consistency, and time.
As schools return this week, Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) is renewing their call for mandatory signage and flashing lights on school buses.
“RWNZ urges the new Government to implement mandatory 20km/h signs and flashing lights on school buses, especially given recent trials have proven both are vital to reducing the speed of traffic passing school buses,” says National President, Fiona Gower.
“Rural children are especially vulnerable when drivers speed past school buses, and children have been involved in a number of serious and fatal incidents.
“We are back into the swing of the school year, and drivers must remember to follow the Road Code and slow down to 20km/h when passing a school bus that has stopped to pick-up or drop-off children.
“As advocates of safer rural roads, RWNZ also asks drivers to watch out for children cycling or walking to school, particularly along highways and main roads, and always remember to slow down to the speed limits indicated in school zones.
“It is time to up the game with keeping our rural children safe – let's just do it,” says Gower.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).
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