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45 farmers opened their gates to visitors on Sunday.
Over 5500 people spent the day on farms around the country on Sunday.
45 farmers opened their gates to visitors on Sunday for New Zealand’s inaugural nationwide open farm day.
Farms of all types and sizes participated: from high-country sheep stations in Otago to dairy farms in the Waikato and even an indoor, vertical microgreens producer in Wellington.
A wide range of activities were on offer for visitors, says Open Farms founder Daniel Eb.
“From compost making to bush and stream tours, petting zoos, working dog demonstrations and fruit picking, today was about Kiwis reconnecting with our land, food and farmers, and having a bit of old-school fun.”
Open Farms events ranged in size and format, from small farm walks for 25 people to local food and farming festivals for 500+. More than three-quarters of events were fully booked, particularly those close to urban centres.
“To see such enthusiasm from both farmers and townies in our first year is really encouraging” says Eb.
“We built Open Farms to grow into an annual event and we’re now working off a great year-one foundation. Looking more broadly, today is a reflection that many Kiwis share our vision for a more open and collaborative national farming story too.”
Open Farms is backed by five sponsors - Beef + Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ, the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge, Farmside Powered by Vodafone and the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures fund.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
A dairy farm working to increase endangered skink numbers and a boutique farm selling milk in recycled bottles will open their gates to the public this Sunday.
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South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
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