GOOD ANIMAL health and husbandry are vital for getting a good wool clip, says Dannevirke vet Simon Marshall, speaking at a recent Beef + Lamb field day, with a wool focus, at Pongaroa, southern Hawkes Bay.

WITH ALL the force of a new religious crusade the environment is becoming the opiate of the masses. As a closet greenie from way back I still get goosebumps thinking about saving whales, dolphins, yellow-eyed penguins, kakapo and rainforests.

THE HIGH New Zealand dollar is hurting, but fixed-price contracts for lamb will help give Landcorp a reasonably strong second half, says chief executive Chris Kelly.

YARNS CRITICAL to the New Zealand non-carpet wool textile industry will continue to be produced at Qualityarns’ Milton mill after Wool Equities, as part of a consortium, stepped in to buy the plant which was on the brink of closure.

DAMNED IF we do, and damned if we don't. That's the likely reaction of many Te Puke Kiwifruit growers this week as they're asked whether they will oppose a form of grafting (notch grafting) with new Psa-resistant varieties.

MORE LEGAL 'teeth' to control and stop the spread of Psa are being considered by Kiwifruit Vine Health's new boss Barry O'Neil.

The great promise of emerging markets is beginning to crystallise for New Zealand wool leading to renewed optimism among growers that finally, wool may be 'back in fashion', according to a new industry report.

WINTON FATHER and son duo Peter and Jason Robson took out the horse ploughing section at the New Zealand Ploughing Championships in Cambridge over the weekend.

An "enthusiastic and incredibly driven" couple has been named Supreme winners of the 2012 Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards

If you're a New Zealand Young Farmers Member, or want to be one, then Dunedin's the place to be from May 24 to 27 this year.