It was a Saturday afternoon and it had been raining for two days; Taranaki farmer Graham Fergus decided to move his ewes on a hilly paddock.

The Health and Safety Reform Bill grabbed many headlines because of farming activities that are deemed high risk, and those that are not.

Few trade agreements have generated as many column inches – or as much protest - as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). 

The dairy downturn could be an indicator of how the economy will suffer if farmers have to reduce inputs to meet environmental compliance standards. 

Different local councils offer various rates support schemes in situations of real hardship, but there is no one standard policy.

When Chinese gooseberries were introduced into New Zealand in 1904 they were a novelty crop. Today kiwifruit is a billion-dollar export earner – and still rising, due, in part, to the work of plant breeders such as Dr Bryan Parkes.

When Lyn Neeson, who farms near Taumaranui, saw the Whanganui and Ohura rivers rise rapidly in June, she figured this spelled trouble for farmers downstream and she was right. 

Weather in the coming months will determine the size of the drop in milk production, says Federated Farmers Dairy president Andrew Hoggard.

Despite Taratahi Agricultural Training having 67 of its tutors enrolled as students in one of its programmes, this is viewed as not ‘uncommon’ by its current head. 

Dairy farmers are welcoming the latest cut in the official cash rate.