Farm plastics recycler Plasback is helping an Ashburton business solve a daunting problem - cleaning up a massive stockpile of waste plastic.

Nominations are now open for the 26th Environment Southland Community awards.

With a third of dairy farms seeking to fill vacancies ahead of calving season, Kiwis are being encouraged to give dairy farming a chance.

After a good 2021 season, rising costs are now starting to hit farmers. Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Taranaki rural advisor Amanda Burling says it's time to start planning because the 2023 season could be bumpy.

Suspicion that the Halter system is cruel and unnatural is misplaced, say panellists at the Halter-organised Dairy 2032 event in Christchurch recently.

Farmers grappling with rising costs received some good news last week.

A Hastings man has been banned from owning livestock for five years and fined $7,800 after failing to provide 26 cattle with sufficient food, resulting in two of them dying and two being euthanised to prevent further suffering.

Former Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy has been appointed the new chairman of the Meat Industry Association (MIA) following the retirement of current chairman John Loughlin from the role.

Data released this week by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) shows there were 50 fewer farm sales for the three months ended May 2022 than for the same period in 2021.

The Government says it is investing to create new product categories and new international markets for strong wool and is calling on Kiwi businesses and consumers to get behind the environmentally friendly fibre.