China’s new beef tariffs expected to favour New Zealand exporters
Additional tariffs introduced by the Chinese Government last month on beef imports should favour New Zealand farmers and exporters.
Your old mate reckons former Silver Fern Farms sales manager Grant Howie has done a poacher-turned-gamekeeper conversion since he left the meat company to do business on his own account.
Howie in his former life was the chief salesman of red meat products on behalf of SFF. However, earlier this year the former meat man took over the The Craft Meat Company in Dunedin and has recently hit the supermarket shelves with a plant-based ‘No Meat Mince’’ with ingredients such as mushrooms, tomatoes, almonds, coconut oil and soy protein. Howie, a 30-year food industry veteran, said the rise of alternative proteins was arguably the biggest trend in Western food. This old mutt wonders what Howie’s ex-colleagues and former farmer suppliers at SFF think of his new venture.
Registrations are now open for the 2026 Ruralco Golf Classic, with all proceeds from the event set to support the Mid Canterbury Rural Support Trust.
Mating wrapped up last month at the across-breed Beef Progeny Test on Pāmu’s Kepler Farm in Manapouri.
Libby Judson is a keeper of memories from an age gone by. Tim Fulton tells her story.
A New Zealand-first native tree study has highlighted the Bioeconomy Science Institute's position as a forestry research leader.
Hemp fibre processor Rubisco is relocating its core processing facility to Ashburton as part of a $20-$30 million expansion to leverage what it says is an accelerating global demand for sustainable and renewable fibres.
Tradition meets some of the latest in technology at the 2026 East Coast Farming Expo.

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