Sally Rae

Former Bluff pilot boat Awarua is destined for a new life on the seas.

When the massive icebreaker Aurora Australis docked at Port Chalmers yesterday, it had some very special cargo to deliver.

From Pleasant Point in South Canterbury, Mr Hessell has been shearing for "30 odd years" and, in January, was appointed regional training manager for Tectra.

Angus is expanding. After opening the Angus Restaurant and Bar in St Andrew St a little over a year ago, Dunedin couple Brian and Susan Lee are adding to their Angus brand.

A south Canterbury farming family has gone to great lengths to show their support for the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup bid.

When Nicole Amery returns to the bright lights of Auckland, she feels like a "possum in the headlights".

For the North Otago Irrigation Company, environmental management is a "fundamental part" of its business.

After more than 20 years in the shearing industry, Kurow shearing contractor Grant Murdoch still enjoys the lifestyle.

Farmers are not reporting any major problems after the recent dumping of snow.

Medikidz has marked a major milestone - selling a million copies of a series of comic books designed to help children around the world understand medical conditions.

Mike Allpress has come a long way from serving espresso coffee in paper cups from a barrow at the Victoria Park market in Auckland. Sally Rae reports.

Reasonable conditions this lambing should see a rise in the total number of lambs by 2 million - up 8% - pushing export lamb production back towards 20.5 million head in 2011-12.

The strong New Zealand dollar might be helping to keep a lid on inflation but it is costing export returns, Federated Farmers national president Bruce Wills has warned.

Dunedin woman Lou Clifton has created an artisan leather-working business, hand-crafting baby shoes which are inspired by classic vintage designs.

When Davey and Maggie Hughes established outdoor clothing company Swazi 17 years ago, he candidly admits they were"hillbillies".

Lower South Island farmers are bucking the national trend with a decrease in confidence about general economic conditions, the latest Federated Farmers confidence survey has shown.

The workhorse in the sheep industry is still a productive ewe, Lincoln University-based agricultural scientist and lecturer Dr Jon Hickford says.