Steel Blue partners with Sweet Louise
Safety boot manufacturer Steel Blue has partnered with breast cancer support organisation Sweet Louise.
Labour's Primary Industries spokesperson Damien O'Connor has come out in support of a rural breast cancer fundraiser following 'revelations' that older farmers were loath to be associated with the colour pink.
It's been reported that farmers 'of a certain age' had not embraced a PGG Wrightson/Tru-Test Group promotion that saw $7 from various pink Speedrite products donated to the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation.
"While younger farmers, lifestylers and women had no qualms about purchasing these products, the older blokes were apparently very hands-off," O'Connor says.
"Maybe that's not surprising, but it is a real shame because it's an excellent cause.
"Thankfully there are enough astute women in the farming sector who know that by purchasing these products they will be contributing to that cause, and possibly helping save lives.
"One advantage of having pink gear is that it will be it easier to find in the mud, and there's plenty of that around at the moment.
"So all I can say to those old guys is that the world's changing. They need to harden up. I know plenty of men who wear pink. Hell, even I've got a light red shirt."
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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