Rural Life

ORC candidates quizzed on future of farming

How do candidates standing for the Otago Regional Council see the future of farming in Otago? That question and others has been posed to all candidates by Southern Rural Life ahead of next month's local body election.

Dairy

Award winners encourage entrants

Simon and Hilary Vallely are passionate about dairying.

Three-year study of flexible milking

Three-year study of flexible milking

DairyNZ and research partners including Lincoln University are exploring flexible milking options, including variations of three milkings over two days, which some Southland dairy farms are already...
Young offenders learning dairy farming skills

Young offenders learning dairy farming skills

Three young offenders at Te Maioha o Parekarangi - an Oranga Tamariki Youth ran Youth Justice residence in Rotorua - are learning how to become dairy farmers.
A 16-month battle with 'M. bovis'

A 16-month battle with 'M. bovis'

Lynne and Duncan Barr are happy it's spring, there are calves to feed and work to be done on their dairy farm at Ealing, in Mid Canterbury.

Red Meat

Oamaru Meats, previously Lean Meats Oamaru Ltd, is finding it hard to secure more skilled labour....

North Otago workers facing uncertain future

At least 40 North Otago meat workers at Oamaru Meats Ltd are facing an uncertain future after the company shut down almost all processing from today.

Swine fever 'a real risk'

Swine fever 'a real risk'

Pig farmers are worried that African swine fever (AFS) will spread to New Zealand and especially to Canterbury, where 60% of the industry is located.
Pukeuri seeking additional staff

Pukeuri seeking additional staff

The Alliance Group Pukeuri meat works is back in full swing after a short break.
Focus on production per hectare

Focus on production per hectare

Extensive data analysis, together with practical experience and encouraging natural animal behaviour, has meant improved growth rates and higher per hectare production for award-winning farm...

Stuart name familiar

Stuart name familiar

There has always been a "Stuart" involved or competing in the annual Merino Shears competition during the 58 years it has been held in Alexandra.
Food award finalist for preserved apricots in wine

Food award finalist for preserved apricots in wine

Augustines of Central founder and Food Award finalist Gus Hayden, of Wanaka, is bottling "nostalgia".
Award winners encourage entrants

Award winners encourage entrants

Simon and Hilary Vallely are passionate about dairying.

Horticulture

Strawberry grower Francie Perry says the harvest has begun, but she still doesn't know how many...

Fruit will rot unless Govt speeds immigration decision

Growers are frustrated with the government's slow decision-making on how many overseas immigrant workers they can employ - saying their crops will be left to rot yet again.

'Great place for continuous learning'

'Great place for continuous learning'

Southern Rural Life is running a series of columns about the various jobs available in the agriculture and horticulture sector. This week we talk to an agronomist.
Winners celebrate from afar

Winners celebrate from afar

When the winners of the Central Otago Awards' business excellence award heard about their success, they were on a yacht cruising around the Greek Islands.
Moss company owner could lose livelihood over SNAs

Moss company owner could lose livelihood over SNAs

A Grey Valley sphagnum moss farmer says he stands to lose $1.2 million and his livelihood if the Government pushes ahead with 'significant natural areas' to protect native forest and wetlands on...

Focus on Farming

Jayne Rive, George Reed and Matilda Reed (3) at Cloudy Peak on an irrigated paddock compared to...

Successes or failures riding on Lindis minimum flow decision

Tarras farmer Jayne Rive sits at the kitchen table of the Cloudy Peak homestead in the Ardgour Valley, her eyes ever-animated as she talks about the uncertainty involved with securing irrigation water for the family farm.

Southern Young Farmer finalists feeling community support

Southern Young Farmer finalists feeling community support

Alan Harvey grew up watching the Young Farmer of the Year contest on television and it was something he aspired to be part of.
South’s Ballance Farm Awards finalists named

South’s Ballance Farm Awards finalists named

It's time to celebrate excellence in the farming sector.
Oregon couple living the dream despite problems with predators

Oregon couple living the dream despite problems with predators

Bill and Sharon Gow reckon they are living the dream. The American ranchers, who were holidaying in New Zealand recently, run a cow-calf ranch in Roseburg, Oregon.

Rural Events

North Canterbury farmers Katrina and Chris Herbert are looking forward to the New Zealand...

Ensuring success of A&P shows

Sheep and cattle at A&P shows go together like candy-floss and Ferris wheels. Cattle have been missing at some shows recently in the wake of the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak but are set to make a...

Cattle management deemed success

Cattle management deemed success

Cattle can be managed at an agricultural show.
Memories shared at auction

Memories shared at auction

Hundreds gathered at Moneymore, south of Milton, on Saturday to remember a mate and snap up a bargain or two.
Catlins hunters pig out

Catlins hunters pig out

The Catlins Boar Hunt returned for its seventh annual outing over the weekend, 84 people entering to hunt the wild beasts in the Clutha wilderness, and the chance to be rewarded for their efforts.

People

Guy Blundell (left) and Hayden Craw, from Compass Agribusiness. Photo Amie Richardson

Consultant fulfilling passion for agriculture

He might not have ended up pursuing a hands-on farming or shearing career but Guy Blundell has still forged a profession in agriculture.

Award winners encourage entrants

Award winners encourage entrants

Simon and Hilary Vallely are passionate about dairying.
Three-year study of flexible milking

Three-year study of flexible milking

DairyNZ and research partners including Lincoln University are exploring flexible milking options, including variations of three milkings over two days, which some Southland dairy farms are already...
Fifty years serving hall committee

Fifty years serving hall committee

People who volunteer to sit on local committees "keep the wheels turning," in farming communities, says 90-year-old Daphne Crawford.

Search form

Search form

Connect with Rural Life

9.35 am

The South Today