A FREE scheme to help dairy farmers lift the reproductive performance of their herds and get more cows in-calf within the first six weeks of mating is being launched this month.

THE MANAWATU Vintage Machinery Club Inc held its qualifying event on March 2 and an instruction/fun day on March 3, in a recently harvested wheat stubble paddock on the property owned by Adrian Noaro on Tane Rd, Opiki, Manawatu.

A SILAGE block cutter is helping a South Island farmer keep his silage stack fresher and has eliminated wastage, says machine importer Webbline.

NEW HOLLAND has won six awards from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) for the fifty most innovative product ideas to go on sale in 2012. These recognise innovation, engineering advancement and impact on the market.

HAWKE’S BAY is empty of stock says Bruce Wills, a local and the national president of Federated Farmers.

AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST dairy processor says farmers must stop blaming the supermarkets for poor farmgate returns.

GLOBAL GROWTH opportunities for New Zealand agriculture will continue, says ASB’s general manager rural Mark Heer.

RAVENSDOWN’S NEW chief executive Greg Campbell says he’s looking forward to refreshing the farmer-owned cooperative’s strategy.

THE CHIEF organiser of the 8th International Sheep Veterinarian Congress, held in Rotorua last month, says he has had nothing but positive comment about the four-day conference.

ASB is showing “corporate responsibility” by offering a rural environmental compliance loan at low cost, says ASB general manager rural Mark Heer.