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…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
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
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
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
“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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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) 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
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
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
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
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 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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
‘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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
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…
Cleaning Up The Sty
An innovative biogas system developed by New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) is making Australian pig farms cleaner and greener as well as reducing the smell. Australian pork industry association,…
Small, Green And Phenomenal
“What’s small, green, comes from New Zealand and is incredibly popular with Britain’s brewers?” The Independent’s Will Hawkes asks. “No, not Kiwi fruits, although someone will surely make a beer with them sooner or later. The…
Impressive Pest Control
Sheep, rugby and kiwi were what the director of Canada’s McGill University’s Office for Science and Society Joe Schwarcz associated with New Zealand, not possum, weasel, ferret or rabbit. “I certainly did not connect…
Lucerne Greens Up the Dry
Farmer of the Year Marlborough lamb and beef producer Doug Avery was a guest at the Queensland Agforce conference in September giving Australians tips on drought proofing their properties. The ABC’s Landline executive producer…
Scottish Dairy Venture
New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, the largest processor of milk in the world, has made its first move into Europe by forming a joint venture with Scotland-based First Milk, which supplies and markets 15…
Ginseng for China
King Country Ginseng growers Maraeroa C Incorporation are working with a Shanghai-based distributor to market their crops in China under the label Pureora NZ Ginseng. “We’re probably the only grower of simulated-wild, natural, organically…
Dealing to Manure
New Zealand has approved the release of 11 Australian species to manage a massive heap of livestock dung. Manure accounts for around 14 per cent of New Zealand’s emissions of nitrous oxide, a powerful…
Back to Business
The New Zealand dairy co-operative of 1,5 farmers, Fonterra, which controls about a third of all internationally traded dairy products, has resumed its operations in Egypt in the wake of political unrest there. “We…
Trail-blazing Tomatoes
Auckland-based Status Produce is New Zealand’s largest tomato supplier producing 10 million kilograms of tomatoes each year. Status Produce began as a vision in 1993 by John Becroft, a second-generation tomato grower and Garry…
Organic targets set
Twenty per cent of vineyards in New Zealand will be farmed organically or biodynamically by 22, according to a new target set by Organic Winegrowers New Zealand (OWNZ). “By 22, even if we only…
Powerful manure
New Zealand-based company Flotech Inc. will soon open its first biogas upgrading system, which converts manure into natural gas, in Canada at an Abbotsford farm southeast of Vancouver. Flotech has a water-scrubbing system…
Market reforms pay off
Korea should follow the example of New Zealand farmers Special Agricultural Trade Envoy Alistair Polson tells the Korea JoongAng Daily on a recent visit to Seoul to meet Korean agricultural industry leaders. Once highly…
Felapau in Botswana
New Zealander David Felapau has been appointed chief executive officer of the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC). Felapau began his agricultural career in New Zealand working on sheep and beef stations in the central North…
Ivy League purchase
A 4ha dairy farm south of Auckland has been purchased by Harvard University for US$2.7 million. The Cambridge institution best known for churning out top college graduates bought the farm with 6 cows as…
