For the first time in four years grape growers in New Zealand’s two largest wine regions are optimistic about the future. Prices have increased, yields are up and a stunning vintage is the icing on the cake.

Water use is becoming an increasingly fraught issue in Hawke’s Bay as growers along the lower reaches of the Tukituki River battle proposed new regulations they believe will threaten their future livelihoods.  

The world is becoming a smaller place, with increased travel, tourism, trade and immigration. And because of that, New Zealand is at far greater risk of facing bio-security threats than ever before.

The last 12 months have been a real turning point for the industry. The end result is a greater level of  optimism than at Bragato a year ago.

It was the second largest Bragato conference held in the history of the event. Close to 600 people, including delegates and trade, converged on Marlborough for a conference that looked back at the past, in order to prepare for the future.

STORIES EMERGED last week at Stratford as the colourful history of the New Zealand Sharemilker of the Year competition unfolded during opening celebrations of the event’s 25th anniversary.

TARANAKI IS now a billion dollar milk producer, thanks mostly to small, well-managed farms, says DairyNZ chairman John Luxton.

FARMERS WERE initially wary of the Milk for Schools scheme because they thought it was charity, Fonterra’s chief executive Theo Spierings told Dairy News.

CALF REARING is not for the fainthearted. It is fraught with risk, hard work, aggravation and distress.

DAIRY TECHNOLOGY manufacturer Waikato Milking Systems will next month open the first stage of its new $12 million complex.