Future for ag is bright
OPINION: It is a privilege to welcome you all to this year's Central Districts Field Days, the country's largest regional field days.
OPINION: It used to be that the National Fieldays attracted brickbats for being officious clipboard carriers, while the regional, farmer-run field days enjoyed the bouquets for being easier to deal with.
Your old mate hears things may be changing in the deep south however, with the previously cruisy Southern Field Days attracting a few grumbles.
Maybe as these outfits grow, so do their egos. Or perhaps the coffers are just running low.
How else to explain their new policy of charging exhibitors for extra tickets to attend sites they’ve already paid for; and charging rural media, who publicise the event for free, to attend?
It sounds like a small thing, but it’s a warning bell – a reminder that the now huge and officious Misery Creek was once known as a cruisy, farmer-run event too.
Be a shame for the regionals to follow them down the same road!
Dairy prices have jumped in the overnight Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, breaking a five-month negative streak.
Alliance Group chief executive Willie Wiese is leaving the company after three years in the role.
A booklet produced in 2025 by the Rotoiti 15 trust, Department of Conservation and Scion – now part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute – aims to help people identify insect pests and diseases.
A Taranaki farmer and livestock agent who illegally swapped NAIT tags from cows infected with a bovine disease in an attempt to sell the cows has been fined $15,000.
Bill and Michelle Burgess had an eye-opening realisation when they produced the same with fewer cows.
It was love that first led Leah Prankerd to dairying. Decades later, it's her passion for the industry keeping her there, supporting, and inspiring farmers across the region.

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