Alternative proteins, meat-based snacks, insects, new types of packaging, eating on-the-go, 3D printing of food: change is coming fast and rural professionals need to get with it, says Meat & Livestock Australia’s Christine Pitt.

A ground-breaking prototype methane recovery system on a 950 cow farm in Southland has demonstrated for the first time the commercial viability of this technology in a cool climate.

Cambridge farm software entrepreneur Peter Floyd believes soils’ power as a carbon sink warrants more investigation and funding.

The discovery of the cow disease Mycoplasma bovis in South Canterbury last month again raised concerns among farmers about NZ’s biosecurity measures and responsiveness.

The term ‘value added’ is too often used as a vague generic, and farmers need to consider specific strategies for adding value, says Rabobank analyst Blake Holgate.

The threat to farming from new food technologies is real, says Landcorp chief executive Steven Carden.

Banks may increasingly lose patience with farms with very high cost structures and very high debt burdens, warns Chris Bloor, financial systems analyst at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

As MPI keeps working to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis, it has warned farmers to be prepared for possible long-term management of the disease.

Holstein Friesian New Zealand (HFNZ) says its joint sire proving programme with CRV Ambreed is breaking records.

In what is a first for the New Zealand education sector and the wine industry, a school to teach winegrowing to secondary school students is about to open.