Rural News Group Limited

A top farm consultant warns that the Waikato dairy season may end early due to ongoing drought conditions. James Allen, Ag First, is predicting the season may end three to four weeks earlier than normal as the situation gets tight for dairy farmers in that region.

Dairy farming siblings Manoj Kumar and Sumit Kamboj's message to other immigrants is simple - work hard and you will be rewarded. Kumar and Kamboj, who created history four years ago by taking out the NZ Dairy Awards' Share Farmer of the Year title, became proud owners of their first farm three months ago.

Waikato contractors faced a challenging season, as early planted forage maize in dry Cambridge soils struggled after germination. By contrast, later-sown crops established on the peatland moving eastwards towards Morrinsville and north towards Taupiri have fared a lot better, with a crop harvested last week averaging 26 tonnes DM/ha.

Synlait Milk Limited’s financial turnaround has successfully halted the exodus of farmer suppliers, stabilizing the company’s operations and securing its future. Synlait last week announced its half-year result for the six months to the end of January, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) up 217% at $63.1 million, and net profit after tax (NPAT) up 105% to $4.8 million, compared with the same period to January 2024.

Unnecessary box ticking and red tape are set to go under the Government's new RMA reforms - much to the delight of farmers. Under the reforms, the existing RMA will be replaced by two separate acts - one dealing with planning and the other on the natural environment.

An Auckland man who illegally killed and sold pigs and a chicken has been fined $8,000. He was fined $4,000 for the illegal slaughter of the animals, $2,000 for selling the animal meat and $2,000 for failing to comply with a notice of direction to stop the home kill operation.

Ahead of the World Butchers' Challenge, the captains of 14 nations’ teams squared off in Paris over the weekend. In one pre-game clash, Germany’s reigning champions went head-to-head with host nation France in an arm wrestle between German captain Dirk Freyberger and French captain Ip Yan Fat.

Rural Women New Zealand | Ngā Wāhine Taiwhenua o Aotearoa says it welcomes recently announced consultation on Pharmac’s funding of ostradiol patches used by women going through perimenopause and menopause. Last week, Pharmac announced it would open consultation on a proposal to fund Estradot and Estradiol TDP Mylan hormone replacement therapy (HRT) patches from 1 December 2025.

Fonterra has named Elizabeth (Liz) Coutts the chair of Mainland Group, the proposed divestment entity of the co-operative’s consumer business. Coutts is currently chair of numerous ASX and NZX-listed companies, including EBOS Group Ltd and Oceania Healthcare Limited. She also chairs telecommunications company 2degrees.

Farmer-owned co-operative Ravensdown is winding down the operations of its agritech subsidiary C-Dax following a long decline in sales. From March 14, C-Dax stopped recruiting new customers. A managed sale of assets including plant, stock, land and buildings is underway.