ACC urges safety during spring calving
Dairy farmers around the country are into the busy spring calving period.
Organiser of the rural wellbeing programme Farmstrong say it has exceeded expectations in its first year, supporting on average 1000 people each week to live and farm well.
In its recently released ‘Making it Happen’ – an annual report-style document -- Farmstrong refers to its first-year reach, impact and successes, notably its website getting 51,451 unique visitors in the first year – reaching around 1000 people a week.
“We’re rapt with the way Farmstrong is tracking. We knew we’d make an impact for farmers and growers, but we couldn’t have dreamed it would gain this much momentum so quickly,” says spokesman Gerard Vaughan.
Other highlights from the report include:
6205 Facebook followers and 1100 on Twitter
31 Healthy Thinking workshops attended by 1122 farmers, growers and agri-professionals
1003 participants in the Farmstrong Challenge, travelling 633,216km
22 South Island rural comedy shows attended by 3150 people.
“These results show there’s a need for this kind of support in farming and farming communities in New Zealand.
“Before we launched Farmstrong we asked farmers what they wanted from a wellbeing programme, and we’re delivering on their requests with such topics such as sleep, nutrition, exercise and ways to get off the farm more,” says Vaughan.
“We want to congratulate and thank everyone who has got involved and taken something from Farmstrong.
“For us the most important asset on the farm is the farmer, and we’ll continue to deliver farmer-led programmes, initiatives and resources to support farmers with this.
“We’re only just getting started. We have a stack of great initiatives on the horizon and are keen to share these with all Kiwi farmers, to help more people live well and farm well.”
Federated Farmers says it is cautiously welcoming signals from the Government that a major shake-up of local government is on its way.
Ashburton cropping and dairy farmer Matthew Paton has been elected to the board of rural services company, Ruralco.
The global agricultural landscape has entered a new phase where geopolitics – not only traditional market forces – will dictate agricultural trade flows, prices, and production decisions.
National Lamb Day is set to return in 2026 with organisers saying the celebrations will be bigger than ever.
Fonterra has dropped its forecast milk price mid-point by 50c as a surge in global milk production is putting downward pressure on commodity prices.
The chance of a $10-plus milk price for this season appears to be depleting.

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