Bulk wine exports surpass packaged wine volumes
Data from February 2025 shows volumes of bulk wine exports exceeded packaged wine.
OPINION: At last, a serious effort to better connect farmers and scientists.
The Science for Farmers initiative promoted by Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) makes sense.
On show at recent regional field days, a special site under this banner was set up whereby farmers can meet up with scientists and discuss some of their problems, and find out what researchers have in the pipeline to deal with some of the challenges they are facing. Likewise, scientists get a heads-up on problems on the farm.
The concept of oozes common sense. Many years ago, politicians and bureaucrats disassembled the old MAF and cut the strong link between the scientists and policy makers. Remember the Ruakura Farmers Conference initiated by the great science leader, the late C.B. McMeeken?
Thousands of farmers flocked there in the 1960s and 70s to listen to men and women who dedicated their lives to finding better ways to farm. And then there were the tours of MAF farms at Ruakura and Whatawhata. Also let’s not forget the excellent horticulture field days held near Levin. All these good science communication events went with the stroke of a pen.
While NZ scrapped the link between science and farmers, 18,000km away the Irish have kept the system that we dumped and that has been hugely successful. A field day organised by the Irish science collective Teagasc, similar to our old MAF, can attract upwards of 10,000 farmers, something we never see in NZ.
It was seeing what Teagasc has done that prompted the MPI boss Ray Smith and his Irish sidekick Dr John Roche to start to improve that scientist-farmer communication by initiating Science For Farmers.
There will never be a return to the halcyon days of the 70s but what is being done is great and hopefully farmers and more science providers will embrace this excellent concept.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
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