SIMPLE RULES and precision pasture management make David Lister's 147ha dairy farm near Temuka one of the most profitable in the country, and he's got the award to prove it.

FARMERS AROUND the country are making great strides improving the quality of their dairy effluent ponds as they balance the demands of farms and growth. Now the message this summer is, empty your storage ponds when you can.

SPRAYING PASTURE with a fungicide that kills fungus and inhibits FE spore production is the only direct means to manage spore numbers during risk periods. Fungicidal sprays provide a secondary benefit by controlling rust on ryegrass and also give opportunity to apply broad-leaf herbicides to improve pasture quality.

When funding was pulled from wild animal control in the late 1970s, many of New Zealand's cattle and deer herds fell foul of TB, says Animal Health Board chairman John Dalziell, in the introduction to the board's Making TB History. This extract from the booklet tells one farmer's story.

A FEED trailer from Milk Bar will not cut in through gateways, can be safely braked before unhitching, suits many feeds and withstands years of farm use, the maker says.

Farming visionaries are getting a come-on from the Sir Peter Blake Trust.

One of New Zealand's budding scientists will travel abroad later this year to complete his PhD, after winning the 2012 Doctoral Studentship Award from LIC.

The Morrinsville sale yards will officially open their stock truck effluent disposal site in a ceremony on February 21.

Rural retailer RD1 has acquired Ruawai Farm Supplies, Northland. The acquisition takes the RD1 store network to 65 stores nationwide.

The New Zealand Farm Environment Award Trust, the organisation behind the highly successful Ballance Farm Environment Awards, has a new name.