Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmers warned to monitor stock water wells
Sheep and beef farmers in Hawke's Bay are being urged to keep a close eye on the wells that supply water to their stock.
With the drought reaching a crisis level in Central Hawkes Bay with supplementary feed almost non-existent, farmers in the Wairarapa have answered the call for help.
Farmers Sophie and Dan Hansen got working on social media and by Monday last week more than 720 bales of baleage had been shipped to Hawkes Bay.
One of those who donated feed was Karen Williams who’s the chairperson of Federated Farmers Arable section. She and her husband have a mixed cropping and sheep and beef finishing operation near the town of Gladstone.
They gave five bales and also a tonne of grain. She says the social media response was great and people who donated bales wrote messages on them to the farmers who would eventually receive the feed.
“It’s just what we do in rural communities. When you see someone struggling you give generously to your country cousins. The combination of COVID and drought has been very tough for people and that’s why we look after each other. It’s about sharing the love,” she says.
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.
Philip and Lyneyre Hooper of the Hoopman Family Trust have tonight been named the Taranaki Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.