Fonterra Suppliers Confident in Mainland Dairy Future
Fonterra's 460 milk suppliers in Australia, who will switch to Lactalis end of this month, are unfazed with the impending change.
Speaking of Fonterra, the Hound received a curt note from a failed board candidate in last year's election...
The note was 'thanking' this old mutt for helping publicise his run as a director in 2014 – claiming it helped lift his profile (what do they say about all publicity being good publicity?). Anyway, the said column referred to a lack of talent among the challengers last year and described the talent pool of potential directors as being "as shallow as the puddle out the back of the Hound's kennel". Anyhow, the said failed candidate claims, "Got to say though that you did lament the caliber [sic] (or lack of) in the challenging pack last year. Surely now with the untrained lot hoping to get onto a sinking lid board this will make last year's lot look like rocket scientists". The Hound reckons his newest 'fan' does make a fair point!
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.

OPINION: Election years are usually regarded as the silly season, but a mate of the Hound reckons 2026 is shaping…
OPINION: If farmers poured just a few litres of some pollutant into a stream, the Green Party and the wider…