News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Mustering with Sheepdogs in the High Country

Mustering with Sheepdogs in the High Country

In New Zealand’s high country, the economy runs on four paws. Reader’s Digest gets up close with the sheepdogs who patrol the Mackenzie Country’s perilous slopes. First brought to the Otago area of the South…

Farmer Marc Gascoigne Promoting Mental Health

Farmer Marc Gascoigne Promoting Mental Health

With mounting pressures facing farmers compounding issues around poor mental health, Cambridge dairy farmer, Marc Gascoigne, is on a mission to strengthen farmers’ resilience, during a Scotland-wide tour, The Scottish Farmer’s Claire Taylor reports. On…

Massey Scientists Reduce Cow Burps to Save Planet

Massey Scientists Reduce Cow Burps to Save Planet

More than a dozen calves wait at a research farm in New Zealand to be fed “Kowbucha”, a probiotic that studies show reduces methane emissions – or burps, Lucy Craymer writes in a Reuters…

How Our Climate Fight Threatens Iconic Farmland

How Our Climate Fight Threatens Iconic Farmland

As New Zealand puts a growing price on greenhouse emissions, investors are rushing to buy up pastures and plant carbon-sucking trees, Serena Solomon reports for a story published in The New York Times. So-called carbon…

Ric Awburn’s Solution to Common Dairy Problem

Ric Awburn’s Solution to Common Dairy Problem

A spring-loaded ballcock arm is the invention bringing a New Zealand farming family to the world market by solving problems for farmers around ensuring a water supply for livestock, Stephen Cadogan reports for the…

Could Additive Kowbucha Reduce Methane Emissions?

Could Additive Kowbucha Reduce Methane Emissions?

Agriculture is the largest anthropogenic source of this gas, accounting for about 40 per cent, leading innovators to offer new solutions to tackle its bovine source. “You’re seeing much more industry involvement,” director of…

World Holstein Appointment for Cherilyn Watson

World Holstein Appointment for Cherilyn Watson

General manager of our largest dairy breed association Holstein Friesian NZ, Cherilyn Watson has been appointed president of the World Holstein Friesian Federation (WHFF) Council, the first female president in the Federation’s 45-year history,…

New Zealand a food producer of global scale

New Zealand a food producer of global scale

New Zealand’s credentials as a global food and meat producer are highlighted in an op-ed in leading U.S. trade publication The National Provisioner by Matt Luxton, Director of Sales, USA at Silver Fern…

Eric Watson Breaks Own Wheat Yield World Record

Eric Watson Breaks Own Wheat Yield World Record

Ashburton farmer Eric Watson has taken the Guinness World Record for the highest wheat yield for the second consecutive time, with a staggering 17.398t/ha crop, Andrew Swallow reports for UK magazine, Farmers Weekly. Watson (pictured…

Silver Fern Farms Targets Change In US Consumer Taste With American Retail Launch

Silver Fern Farms Targets Change In US Consumer Taste With American Retail Launch

Silver Fern Farms, New Zealand’s largest red meat producer, is fresh off of their U.S. market launch with a range of grass-fed beef, lamb, and venison products and has signaled that they are targeting…

Farmer Matt Smith Furthers Deer Enterprise

Farmer Matt Smith Furthers Deer Enterprise

Cornish farmers New Zealand-born world shearing champ Matt Smith and his wife Pip are hoping to capitalise on soaring demand for British venison having recently launched their own branded meat company, Westcountry Premium Venison,…

Sky Shepherds a Vital Farming Tool

Sky Shepherds a Vital Farming Tool

Corey Lambeth, a New Zealand farmer, originally purchased a drone for photography, but he quickly realised the device had more practical applications. “I thought ‘I’ll just give it a nudge on the sheep and…

Silver Fern Farms Enters US Retail Market in NYC

Silver Fern Farms Enters US Retail Market in NYC

Silver Fern Farms, the largest red meat producer in New Zealand has announced their entry into the U.S. market. The company launched its products in 14 Fairway Market stores around the New York…

New Zealand Responds to Alternative Protein Threat

New Zealand Responds to Alternative Protein Threat

In a report for The Japan Times, journalist Charlotte Greenfield talks to Dave Harper, a farmer in the scenic Canterbury region, where his painstakingly bred flock of lambs is grazing not on grass, but…

Avocado Farmers Fighting to Save Crops

Avocado Farmers Fighting to Save Crops

As the popularity of the avocado soars, growers in the Bay of Plenty have been forced to resort to extreme lengths to protect their crop from thieves Eleanor Ainge Roy reports for the Guardian. The…

Farmer Doug Avery in Scotland Speaking On Drought

Farmer Doug Avery in Scotland Speaking On Drought

New Zealander Doug Avery, known as ‘The Resilient Farmer’, recently spoke about having endured the worst drought “in living memory” at a tour jointly organised by The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland…

Milk from Deer Causing a Stir

Milk from Deer Causing a Stir

Excitement is building among New Zealand’s high-end chefs over a new world-first. Deer milk is now being sourced from 70 hinds in Southland to make cheese, desserts and even yoghurt. The company behind the…

Oamaru Farmer Grant McNaughton an Award Nominee

Oamaru Farmer Grant McNaughton an Award Nominee

Six young agriculture professionals from both sides of the Tasman – including managing director of McNaughton Farms in Oamaru, Grant McNaughton, 34 – are in the running for the prestigious Zanda McDonald Award. Now in its…

Scientists Are Breeding Low-Emission Sheep

Scientists Are Breeding Low-Emission Sheep

“In a bid to tackle climate change, scientists have teamed up with New Zealand farmers to try and make sheep a little less gassy,” writes Joe Pinkstone in an article for the 

Regulator Grant Barnes Minding a Precious Resource

Regulator Grant Barnes Minding a Precious Resource

Grant Barnes is a New Zealander who says he has a bit of mongrel in him, and says he would not hesitate in taking on any New South Wales irrigator who is found to…

Dairy Farmer Richard Watson Gets Help From Ida

Dairy Farmer Richard Watson Gets Help From Ida

Cow No. 14433 doesn’t stand out from the herd at Seven Oaks Dairy in Wisconsin. But New Zealand-born dairy owner Richard Watson knows everything about the brown Jersey heifer without…

Dairy Farmer Richard Watson Embraces AI Technology

Dairy Farmer Richard Watson Embraces AI Technology

In the two months since US-based New Zealand dairy farmer Richard Watson strapped 200 remote-control-sized transmitters around his cows’ necks, an artificial-intelligence system named Ida has pinged his phone with helpful alerts: when his…

Farming Couple Matt and Pip Smith Enter New Market

Farming Couple Matt and Pip Smith Enter New Market

Award-winning farming couple, New Zealander Matt Smith and wife Pip, co-owners of Trefranck Farm near Launceston, in the UK have used HSBC funding to acquire 250 pedigree breeding deer, which has increased their livestock…

Graeme Sait Discusses a Chemical-Free World

Graeme Sait Discusses a Chemical-Free World

Educator and writer Graeme Sait’s mission in life is creating a new agricultural paradigm for the world to improve human health. Soil health and nutrition farming is what the New Zealander imparts and India,…

Engender Technologies Innovates Artificial Insemination in Dairy Cows

Engender Technologies Innovates Artificial Insemination in Dairy Cows

New Zealand AgTech startup Engender Technologies “has created a new microfluidic and photonic technology to sort livestock sperm by sex to enrich X chromosome-bearing bull sperm cells,” writes Jennifer Kite-Powell…

Phillipa and Brangka Munan’s Borneo Efforts Pay Off

Phillipa and Brangka Munan’s Borneo Efforts Pay Off

New Zealander Phillipa Munan and her husband Brangka, who earned his Bachelor of Agriculture and Science from Lincoln University, operate The Milk Shop, an organic dairy goat farm in Kuching,…

Shearer Rowland Smith Beats World Record

Shearer Rowland Smith Beats World Record

Thirty-year-old New Zealander Rowland Smith has beaten the world record for the number of sheep sheared in an eight-hour period. Smith, who is from the Hawke’s Bay, sheared 644 sheep from four farms in Devon…

NZ Devises Manuka Honey Test to Fight Fakes

NZ Devises Manuka Honey Test to Fight Fakes

The New Zealand Government has tested 800 samples of honey from around the world to establish a scientific definition of genuine manuka honey and crackdown on alleged fakes, Eleanor Ainge…

Farmer Eric Watson Smashes Wheat Growing Record

Farmer Eric Watson Smashes Wheat Growing Record

Ashburton farmer Eric Watson has broken the world record for the greatest wheat yield, with a “staggering” 16.91-tonnes/ha crop that left the current record of 16.5 tonnes held in the UK in its dust,…

NZ Ireland Agribusiness Relationship Thriving

NZ Ireland Agribusiness Relationship Thriving

“It seems counterintuitive that an important market for Irish agriculture could also be a major competitor. But despite the great distance that separates them, a lucrative commercial relationship exists between Ireland and New Zealand,”…

Yashili Unveils New Zealand-Made Infant Formula

Yashili Unveils New Zealand-Made Infant Formula

New Zealand based dairy giant Yashili has launched its premium New Zealand-made infant formula on the local market on Thursday. The product is available in selected New World and Pak’n’Save North Island stores. Yashili said…

Bank of China (NZ) to Hold Agribusiness Investment and Trade Conference

Bank of China (NZ) to Hold Agribusiness Investment and Trade Conference

Bank of China (NZ) Limited will hold an inaugural China-New Zealand Agribusiness Investment and Trade Conference on 25 May at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland. The conference, supported by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise…

New Zealand Salmon Industry Leads the Way in Sustainability

New Zealand Salmon Industry Leads the Way in Sustainability

The New Zealand Salmon Industry is leading the way in fish sustainability measures according to the recent global sustainability report Global Salmon Initiative Sustainability released by the Global Salmon Initiative. “Overall,…

New Kind of Shepherd Rules over Hawkes Bay Sheep Station

New Kind of Shepherd Rules over Hawkes Bay Sheep Station

This photograph of sheep waiting to be shorn taken by Grant Sheehan has featured on the social network site Dronestagram. Sheehan captured the shot with a drone, which he flew over Kereru Sheep…

Farmer Uses Drone to Herd Flock of Sheep

Farmer Uses Drone to Herd Flock of Sheep

South Island farmer Brett Sanders uses a drone to herd his sheep across his 29,000 acre farm near Alexandra, New Zealand. Instead of using a sheep dog to herd the flock, the farmer attached a…

Kiwi Cow Sold for over €13,000

Kiwi Cow Sold for over €13,000

A New Zealand Friesian dairy cow has sold for NZ$20,000 or €13,285 at an auction. “There were four of five bidders on this cow. It was amazing and it kept on going up and we…

New Zealand Emissions Cut Breakthrough

New Zealand Emissions Cut Breakthrough

New Zealand scientists have made a breakthrough in methane inhibitors that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from sheep and cattle drastically without cutting production. “If successfully developed and commercialized, the new findings offer the potential…

New Zealand Sheep Farms Adapt to Changing Demands

New Zealand Sheep Farms Adapt to Changing Demands

The changing face of sheep farming in New Zealand, with a focus on sheep meat exports over the traditional wool harvest, is mapped in an extensive New York Times feature by journalist Mike Ives. “About…

Scientists Closing to Breeding Eco-friendly Sheep

Scientists Closing to Breeding Eco-friendly Sheep

Scientists at New Zealand’s AgResearch and the US Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute have moved a step closer to developing a breed of sheep that belches less methane as part of a quest…

Sainsbury’s Invests in Techion Cloud Technology

Sainsbury’s Invests in Techion Cloud Technology

A small New Zealand-based agri-tech company Techion Group have received a research and development fund from UK supermarket giant Sainsbury’s. The grant of 400,000 Euro will go towards further developing Techion’s cloud-based system for diagnosing…

Frost Boss Wins Prize for Innovative Farming Wind Machine

Frost Boss Wins Prize for Innovative Farming Wind Machine

New Zealand engineer Kim McAulay’s portable frost protection fan – the Tow & Blow – has taken out Victoria’s 2014 Mildura Field Day Innovation in Horticulture award. According to the company’s website, the Tow &…

New Zealand Outpaces Crawling World Economy

New Zealand Outpaces Crawling World Economy

In a world still limping its way out of the global financial crisis, The Wall Street Journal has written that New Zealand’s economy is looking remarkably zippy – and even outdoing our much larger…

Sweet News for NZ Winemakers

Sweet News for NZ Winemakers

Global demand for wine is outstripping supply, meaning prices for New Zealand wine in export markets are likely to increase, according to a new report by US financial services firm, Morgan Stanley. Production of…

Kiwi Drought Hits Choc-lovers

Kiwi Drought Hits Choc-lovers

The price of Christmas chocolates look set to surge as the cost of key ingredients – including New Zealand milk – squeezes manufacturing margins. Milk powder prices have risen 50% in the year to…

Milking Sheep for All They’re Worth

Milking Sheep for All They’re Worth

New Zealand’s sheep-milking is predicted to be big industry for New Zealanders in the future with Southland sheep-milking business Blue River Dairy planning to invest millions of dollars in new equipment. Blue River manufactures and…

Hops Industry Gaining Strong International Reputation

Hops Industry Gaining Strong International Reputation

New Zealand-produced hops is gaining a strong international reputation with 90 per cent grown here exported overseas. The United States craft beer scene is particularly fond of New Zealand flavours. A recent report estimated…

Minister Blasts Department Over China Meat Export Bungle

Minister Blasts Department Over China Meat Export Bungle

A bungle by the NZ Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) was responsible for NZ meat exports being held on Chinese wharves for up to two weeks, says stuff.co.nz. The hold-up was caused by MPI…

NZ’s ‘Papple’ Pear Makes Dream California Debut

NZ’s ‘Papple’ Pear Makes Dream California Debut

‘Like an Asian pear with flavour’, the Papple is a NZ bred and grown cross of various Asian pears. The Papple has just made its Californian debut at Gelson’s markets, one of America’s premiere supermarket…

Opportunities for Sharing World Class Technology

Opportunities for Sharing World Class Technology

New Zealander Richard Watson had the unusual pleasure of sharing his Burke County farm in Georgia with visitors from home. “We bought this property in 2007, and here currently, we’re milking 560 cows,” he…

Tips From The Top

Tips From The Top

New Zealand’s top performing farms operate on seven principles according to Irish dairy consultant Dr Mary Kinston. Firstly: “Top farmers benchmark against other farm businesses. Eighty-five per cent of farm managers would have a…

Greener Pastures

Greener Pastures

Retailers in Britain should sell New Zealand-produced lamb if they want to help protect the environment, experts claim in a report called ‘Climate Change and Food Systems’. The suggestion, likely to outrage British farmers,…

No More Allergies

No More Allergies

AgResearch scientists have genetically engineered a cow to produce anti-allergy milk. They hope the technique, which uses a process called RNA interference that reduces the activity of certain genes without eliminating it completely, can…

Prospering in a Free Market

Prospering in a Free Market

General manager policy and advocacy of the Federated Farmers of New Zealand Mark Ross discusses the benefits of cutting farm subsidies in New Zealand and, together with the editor of the Cato Institute’s

Case of the Disappearing Stock

Case of the Disappearing Stock

“One would never think that sheep could be an endangered animal, at least not in New Zealand,” Global E & C Solutions Marketing’s senior director Manju Bansal writes for Forbes. “Over the last few…

Counting the Bleat

Counting the Bleat

Principal investigator at New Zealand’s Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) in Palmerston North, Peter Janssen hopes that by measuring every belch and bleat of their sheepish subjects they can come up…

Taking on the World

Taking on the World

In the worldwide food shortages that developed at the end of the Second World War, tiny New Zealand grew fabulously rich. New Zealand dairy farmer Thomas Lambie recalls: “ had the second-highest per-capita income in…