WITH GLOOMY trade news almost daily, farmers are likely to revise their farm budgets downwards, warns Federated Farmers.

TAUHARA MOANA Trust dairy farm near Taupo is a long narrow block located between Mt Tauhara (Maunga or mountain) and Lake Rotokawa (Moana - water). It’s one of many large-scale dairy farms in the Broadlands area where Mt Tauhara forms an imposing backdrop, as does steam rising from Lake Rotokawa and adjacent geothermal sites. The farm is part of Ngati Tuwharetoa and Te Arawa’s ancestral lands, the tribes to which the trust is affiliated.

ANIMAL HEALTH issues will be one of the priority areas as the deer industry takes a long close look at itself this week during its annual conference, at Wanaka.

DUAL WHEELS supplied by Clic, Rotorua, are making a difference to the work of Lawn Services Ltd, says chief executive John Smith.

AT THE luxury end of the car market, ‘entry level’ variants often stack up better than the fully-loaded top-of-the-range.

The revolutionary robotic rotary dairy is now a reality with the world's first commercial installation in operation at Gala, the dairy farm operated by the Dornauf family in northern Tasmania.

Farm sales are on the rise. Data released by the Real Estate Institute of NZ shows there were 153 more farm sales (+52.8%) for the three months ended April 2012 than for the three months ended April 2011.

Giant buttercup, a damaging European dairy pasture weed that is avoided by cattle due to its acrid taste, is costing New Zealand hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue as dairy farmers battle to control it.

Cow behaviour expert, Darold Klindworth, says farmers need to identify the signs of cow stress to improve the milking experience for their animals and staff.

People, perception and pride is the theme of this year's South Island Dairy Event (SIDE), challenging dairy farmers' views on the industry now and into the future.