Taranaki farmers Peter and Nicola Carver are back on their farm after a recent trip to Wellington as the national ambassadors for sustainable farming.

The farming community needs to step up to help lessen the rift between city and country.

While the nation waits for the former MP for Northland to decide who the new government will be (don’t you just love MMP), this old mutt reckons wily Winston Peters could add a new bottom line to his list of demands – eradicate over-the-top PC-ness.

Modelling done by the European Community shows that its agriculture would be little affected by a free trade agreement with New Zealand, says John Ballingall of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.

Of the top five countries New Zealand trades with, it only has trade deals with two, an ExportNZ conference has heard.

Aligning farming practices so they care for the environment is critical for New Zealand, says Maori agri-businessman, Kingi Smiler.

During the election campaign NZ farmers – and the rural community in general – came under attack from politicians and the public, and felt they were being demonised.

Farmers buying store cattle should be careful not to pay too much, warns Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dean Hamilton.

New Zealand's water quality problems can be solved by correctly managing the storage of water, according to meat industry stalwart and long-time Canterbury resident Sir Graeme Harrison.

The next push for Zespri will be further creating demand ahead of supply and getting the best value out of the company’s global structure, says the new chief executive Dan Mathieson.