THE SEARCH is on for the best ice creams in New Zealand. Entries close April for an awards ceremony in Wellington on May 30.

THE 2013 Taranaki Sharemilker/Equity Farmers of the Year, Rachel and Kenneth Short, have become the first family to claim two generations of success in the awards.

WHEN SYNLAIT Farms was announced as a Lincoln University Foundation South Island Farmer of the Year finalist, chief executive Juliet Maclean stressed the value they place on the people in their business.

A NEW one-day tractor pulling contest was popular at the Central District Field Days this month, the organiser says.

LONGER, COMFORTABLE work time, notably for contractors and large-scale farmers, is enabled by the four-point cab suspension on the new Claas Axion 900 tractor. The feature is standard.

Federated Farmers/Rabobank Farm Employee Remuneration Survey 2013 shows pay levels for most pastoral farm positions have continued to increase. The average farm worker is now earning $5500 more than the New Zealand average annual wage and salary.

Twenty-five sheep and beef farming leaders will attend the first Beef and Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) Environmental Leadership Forum in Wellington next week.

The drought has sent the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation's dairy price index soaring.

ASB has expanded its rural corporate business in the South Island with the appointment of two new rural corporate managers who both bring specialised regional knowledge to their roles.

When farmers from all over the North Island attend this week's Drought Shout in Mangatainoka, work is expected to be the last thing on their minds.