An industry-backed trip to Asia has given Otago farmers Blair and Jane Smith a deeper understanding of the challenges facing marketers of New Zealand meat and dairy products.

THE 34 FINALISTS in the 2013 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are now known.

A WAIRARAPA agribusiness consulting company, Baker and Associates, is setting up a special unit to meet growing demand from farmers for help in dealing with new environmental regulations.

THE LABOUR Party and the Green Party recently announced plans to establish a new agency, New Zealand Power, to act as a single buyer of wholesale electricity.

SUPPLIERS TO Synlait Milk can earn 6c/kgMS more for their milk next season, and possibly 12c/kgMS after that, if they achieve new, internationally accredited assurance standards.

HIGH FARM production and heavy stocking rates need not burden the environment, say brother and sister Shayne and Charmaine O’Shea, this year’s supreme winners of the Ballance Northland Farm Environmental Awards.

A LARGE crowd turned out this month to a field day to see how a young couple won the Manawatu/Horowhenua/ Rangitikei  Farm Manager of the Year Award.

A FARM consultant in Manawatu/Rangitikei questions a belief that because pasture has ‘gone green’, farmers are out of trouble. This is not so, says Lindsay Rowe, who is a vet.

A THREE-YEAR experiment with mixed pastures could have big implications for future management of environmental impacts.

The contest for the Rural Bachelor of the Year is back and better than ever but entries close on Monday.