A Mid-Canterbury couple in only their second season milking their own herd have won top Share Farmers of the Year 2017.

Confidence precedes investment, so if farmers are confident in the future and the information they are getting, they will invest, says Beef + Lamb NZ chairman James Parsons.

On Friday the winner of the Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Maori sheep and beef farm will be named at a gala awards dinner in Whangarei.

Environmental awareness is a “tsunami coming down on us,” says the sheep breeding programme manager for Focus Genetics, Richard Lee.

2017 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year Jessie Chan-Dorman says her involvement in many organisations is about giving back.

In ten years, red meat production will start with the consumer and we need to look now at what the consumer will be wanting, says the general manager of Whangara Farms, Richard Scholefield.

Fonterra is facing a backlash in Australia over its decision not to repay money clawed back from farmer suppliers this season.

The first solo woman winner of the Dairy Manager of the Year title, Hayley Hoogendyk, hopes to be a role model for others switching to a career in farming.

The targets in the Sustainable Dairying Water Accord are effectively becoming normal business practice for dairy farmers, says a DairyNZ director, Alister Body.

Children of dairy farmers are being bullied at school, just because of the work their parents do.