Rural Women New Zealand is calling on the Minister of Education to gift or lease closed rural schools to local communities, and has requested a meeting with Minister Hekia Parata to discuss the proposal.

AUSTRALIA IS buying New Zealand stock in its struggle to keep up with demand for export heifers particularly to China.

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES Minister David Carter is lauding the signing of a deal between the New Zealand dairy technology company Milfos and a Russian company, Mercurii Holdings.

NEVER MIND the detail, it’s the whole cooperative ethos that is at stake in this month’s TAF (trading among farmers) vote, says one of the shareholders who instigated the second ballot.

FONTERRA HAS a serious problem but, contrary to the board’s claims, it is not redemption, says a Netherlands-based cooperatives expert.

A YOUNG inventor will return to Fieldays this week hoping to find and thank people who last year encouraged him to develop a now-patented tool.

Primary sector export revenue is expected to decline in 2012/13, a Ministry for Primary Industries report shows.

A commitment to maintaining land and resources for future generations was a strong theme at Saturday's final of the prestigious 2012 Ahuwhenua Trophy – Bank of New Zealand Maori Excellence in Farming competition which was won by the Kapenga M Trust from Rotorua.

Fonterra-owned Tip Top Ice Cream has taken out supreme award at the 2012 New Zealand ice cream awards.

The three winners of the 2012 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are attending the National Agricultural Fieldays to promote the awards programme, meet with sponsors and find new ideas and technologies to assist their businesses.