Uncertainty over continued access to fertile land and irrigation water are potentially forcing some vegetable growers out of business.

New Zealand farmer Matt Iremonger has won the highly-regarded Australasian business award for a strategic business plan he developed for a start-up farming enterprise in North Canterbury.

When it was suggested to Aaron Jay, owner of Marlborough Vine Works that he undertake The Icehouse Owner Manager Programme, he scoffed. Now four years after completing the course, he is anything but skeptical.

Land and water remain the key constraints to growth in horticultural production, HortNZ has told the Productivity Commission.

South Auckland farmer Tony Walters is not a computer buff, instead relying on his teenage children to help him navigate the internet.

Do you know how docks, thistles and dandelions differ in their ability to regrow? Or from how deep particular weed species germinate? Or what are the alternative hosts for the pests that try to demolish your crops?

Dana Blackburn is an Ohakune local – born and bred in nearby Raetihi. 

As parents gear up for a new year of school lunches, research has found children who regularly eat fresh fruit and vegetables at school are better behaved, more alert, and healthier.

MID-CANTERBURY CONTRACTOR Murray Donaldson, of Interow Spraying, is getting a “really good run” from his firm’s three Berti TSB mulchers, says the distributor, Farmgard.

SOLID BUSINESS management and attention to detail is behind the success of the winners of Silver Fern Farms, Hawke’s Bay Farmer of the Year 2014.