New Order
OPINION: If old Winston Peters thinks building trade relations with new nations, such as India, isn't a necessary investment in our future, he has rocks in his head.
The UK has recorded its first trade surplus for dairy.
According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the UK trade balance for all dairy products was positive in volume terms in 2019.
AHDB says there was a surplus of 95k tonnes of product, resulting in the first trade surplus on record since records began in 1997.
Skim milk and buttermilk recorded the largest improvements in the trade balances.
AHDB says the improvement in the trade balance for skim milk is a “direct result” of shifting trade patterns across the Irish border, whereas buttermilk’s trade balance was influenced by reduced shipments from France, Belgium and Germany.
![]() |
|---|
Cheese, yoghurt, and butter are still trading at a deficit, despite some growth in butter and cheese.
AHDB says the power trade surplus increased and the cream trade shifted from a trade deficit in 2018 to a surplus in 2019.
In value terms, there was still a trade deficit, however it has reduced since 2018, with the value of exports growing and the value of imports shrinking.
AHDB says butter was a large contributor to the improvements to the trade deficit, thanks to reduced imports in 2019 and lower prices making the volume deficit worth less overall.
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…