OPINION: Farmers have felt increasingly disempowered and disregarded of recent decades. Larger farms and fewer owners have reduced the rural population.

Farmlands has reported higher operating earnings and a profit before income tax of $4.5 million, up 118.9%, for the year ended 30 June 2026.

With the red meat sector going through a boom time with high prices, the time is right for the industry to step up its investment into developing new food products.

Meat Industry Association chief executive Nick Beeby says there’s now much closer cooperation between meat processing companies than there was many years ago.

A new fruit quality research laboratory has been opened in Auckland by agritech company Hectre to develop pioneering hyperspectral technology.

Having been on the market for over 10 years, the King Cobra K2 travelling raingun continues to be a popular choice for farmers, says owner Numedic.

For years, IrrigationNZ has called for a coordinated national approach to water security, backed by enabling regulation, strategic infrastructure investment and sound technical practice. As the 2026 general election approaches, many of these priorities are now reflected in political commitments and legislative reforms. That represents significant progress, but the real measure of success will be turning policy into practical outcomes, says IrrigationNZ principal technical officer Stephen McNally.

In dairy nutrition, methionine usually comes up in terms of milk protein and production, but this misses a lot of what this essential amino acid is doing behind the scenes.

In farming there are external factors that can influence behaviour of a whole herd, such as a bad weather event, triggering false positive heat detections or health attentions.

OPINION: New Zealand dairy is delivering. In the year to June, dairy exports earned a record $28.8 billion for New Zealand. They were part of a record $65.2 billion earned by our wider food and fibre sector.