Meat Industry Association CEO to Step Down
The Meat Industry Association of New Zealand (MIA) today announced that Chief Executive Officer Sirma Karapeeva has resigned from the role.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has congratulated a group of Whangarei school students for their work promoting the primary sector to their peers.
The Huanui College students from Whangarei are this year's winners of the Enterprising Primary Industries Careers (EPIC) Challenge, with their winning entry "Bee in the Scene" which encourages students to consider a career in the apiculture industry.
Launched this year, EPIC is an initiative that hopes to attract students to the primary sector. EPIC challenges year 10 students to identify different careers within the industry and develop a marketing strategy to promote them to their classmates.
"The winning entry highlighted the variety of careers within the apiculture industry, from bee keeping, to microbiology and biochemistry," says Guy.
"The four students identified their target audience and developed a creative, modern marketing campaign – which included brochures, advertising, social media, and interviews with those working in the industry."
Overall, the EPIC challenge received 121 entries from 117 schools across the country; Huanui College also came first in the Dairy category of the competition.
"Many students don't realise that working in the primary industries goes beyond the farm and covers a whole range of careers – from robotics, chemical engineering, food science, genetics and policy, right through to marketing our products internationally," says Guy.
"The EPIC challenge is just one of a whole raft of initiatives to attract the best and brightest to our sector."
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.
Philip and Lyneyre Hooper of the Hoopman Family Trust have tonight been named the Taranaki Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.

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