Rural life

The key to sustaining profitability and competitiveness lies in productivity

New Zealand’s wild weather is unpredictable, but one thing is certain — there will be more of it.

Southland dairy farmers Steven and Hayley Clarke, with their son Jordie, hosted a field day showcasing their passion for maximising pasture growth and utilising it in their system.

After losing over $16,000 worth of milk, and working 40 hours straight, one Western Southland dairy farmer is in awe of the support from her rural community.

South Canterbury will be the undisputed home base for butter making in the South Island after Fonterra signed off a $75 million expansion project at its Clandeboye site.

Lincoln University Dairy Farm has moved from 10 milkings every seven days to a more flexible system and has dropped pure plantain growing to keep up with top-performing farms in Canterbury.

South Canterbury farmers leaned on extra supplementary feeding to get them through a slow spring nipping into milk production.