When scientists Marilyn Duxson and John Harris purchased a small section near Wanaka almost 20 years ago, they planned to build a ski holiday house to spend weekends away from Dunedin.

Since graduating from Lincoln University in 2004, Central Otago viticulturist Nick Paulin has been on a steep upward trajectory.

Central Otago grape growers and orchardists will continue to face labour shortages at critical times like harvest, if the region can’t provide enough accommodation for seasonal workers.

The Mycoplasma bovis outbreak has imposed a human cost on the farmers affected and a ripple effect into their wider communities.

The emotional, social and psychological impacts of Mycoplasma bovis on southern farmers and farming communities will be studied by the University of Otago.

Passionate about Central Otago’s wines and environment, American-born proprietor Rhonda Lloyd’s vision has fuelled a unique vineyard and environmental restoration project at Northburn, as Jean Grierson discovers.

She may be a relative newcomer to the wine industry, but the owner of Domaine Rewa in Central Otago has a vision for the future.

When Yannick Fourbet arrived last summer with his Kiwi wife Philippa and twin boys, Augustin and Mortimer, to start a new life in Central Otago, he brought with him no less than a container-load of beautiful Anduze pots.

Pests like mice and wasps may one day be killed off by a new technique now proven in laboratory tests on fruit flies.

Higher-than-normal rainfall in Otago has brought some much needed breathing space for Otago farmers who may be facing another summer of dry conditions.