Facts to Learn Arable production in New Zealand includes everything that is grown as a crop and harvested by a combine harvester. This includes crops such as cereals for human and animal feed, maize for grain and silage, grass and legume seeds for pasture and amenity, and high value vegetable seeds. Other farming systems use […]
Farm Stories
Farmer’s high fashion event a celebration of the unexpected
‘Town meets country’ themed articles are usually about produce, animals and tractors featuring in urban parades, festivals or markets. But Eden Hore: High Fashion/High Country – like the Central Otago farmer himself – is one out of the box. Eden was a high country farmer from Naseby. Nationally admired for his sheep and beef farming […]
Alliance barges in with stock solution
By Rebecca Flannery Sheep and cattle from isolated parts of the Marlborough Sounds are getting a sea cruise as part of an innovative solution to road damage. Heavy rainfall in July took a massive toll on roads, with access to some parts of the Sounds cut off. There were more than 100 slips and unstable […]
Emma boots up to get others to Outward Bound
It’s challenging enough to tackle your first marathon. But to run it in gumboots and milking shed overalls?! Nineteen-year-old Emma Blom just takes all the raised eyebrows and ‘you’re crazy’ comments in her stride. “I wanted to do something a bit different,” she says, “and also to make a difference”. The ‘making a difference’ bit […]
There’s life in the old dog yet
Man’s best friend has been a trusted and long-time employee on the farm since humans woke up and realised how smart dogs are. But it doesn’t have to be the end of a happy life when they get too old, have had a career-ending injury or just won’t quite make the cut. This was the […]
Rural recycling rocketing into record figures
Farmers and growers are demonstrating their commitment to the environment by achieving record-breaking volumes of recycling through the rural recycling programme, Agrecovery. A staggering 532 tonnes of plastic, from used agrichemical containers, was collected from Agrecovery’s sites, events and via on-farm pick-ups over the past year. This represents a 32 percent increase and is “a […]
District Plan flexibility could open up new land use, housing gains
By Simon Edwards Zeb Horrell’s vision for a less restrictive district planning approach to houses on farms brings dividends around extra farm capital, diversification, workforce help and self-sustainability. It’s also another bite out of our daunting housing shortage problem and a way that more Kiwi families can experience the joys and advantages of rural life. […]
Evolving winter grazing improvements hit a good path forwards
By Simon Edwards If there’s one thing about the whole winter grazing saga that brasses off Bernadette Hunt (and to be fair, there are quite a few things) it’s the impression some have that farmers have only just woken up to the need to lift their game on getting animals through the cold months while […]
Farm artist residency promotes agriculture and art link
Next-gen farmers and advocates for forward-thinking farming practices, Richard and Laura Morrison, are making waves in the nation’s art scene. They’ve secured renowned artist Andrew McLeod for a first-of-its-kind artist residency housed on their family farm, The Gullies. The couple are keen on fostering more positive and diverse conversations around farming, arts and the environment […]
Update from the Canterbury floods
We are now at day 106 after the 2021 Canterbury floods, and even though his own farm was ravaged by floodwater in the May 30th floods, Federated Farmers board member Chris Allen still managed to document the journey via a series of short videos. We have put them all together in a short video that […]