Sally Rae

Becci Bishop is something of a globe-trotting vet.

Outgoing Federated Farmers national president Bruce Wills has again sounded a note of caution over burgeoning debt levels in the agricultural sector.

Better communication and understanding within the red meat industry is needed to see better returns, outgoing Federated Farmers meat and fibre chairwoman Jeanette Maxwell says.

Hundreds of small communities, who rely on the dairy industry, risk being ''strangled'' if unrealistically hard nutrient limits are set, Federated Farmers outgoing dairy chairman Willy Leferink has warned.

Some meat plants could be closed if the cost of upgrading to meet new water management limits proves prohibitive, the Meat Industry Association (MIA) is warning.

Secretly filmed footage showing what has been described as ''disgusting and squalid'' conditions at a Canterbury pig farm is not typical of the wider pork industry, industry leaders say.

Dairy commodity prices are predicted to stay in a trough period for another three to six months.

Maniototo farmer David Crutchley is a finalist in the inaugural Green Agriculture Innovation Awards.

King Country farmer William Oliver's belief in the consumer stemmed from his time studying at the University of Otago.

The Seriously Good Chocolate Company in Invercargill stemmed from one woman's attempts to cheer up her hairdresser by making some chocolate truffles. Now Jane Stanton is exporting a taste of New Zealand to the world, as business reporter Sally Rae reports.

Landholders in Otago have been urged to understand where they are in relation to the Otago Regional Council's new water quality rules and start putting environmental practice ''front of mind''.

A $500,000 project aimed at increasing deer farming profitability has attracted Government support through the Sustainable Farming Fund.

Ring organic skincare business Plantae and ask for a Priest and there could be a little confusion.

When Theo Spierings first joined Fonterra as its chief executive, he described Fonterra - and possibly New Zealand - as the envy of the dairy world.

Running a catering business in Dunedin may be a far cry from being executive chef in a swanky hotel in the Maldives, but Gordon McKenzie could not be happier.

It reads a little like something out of a Mills and Boon romance novel.

Federated Farmers national president Bruce Wills stands down next month after three years in the role. He talks to agribusiness reporter Sally Rae about his tenure and his optimism for the agricultural industry's future.