Plant-based bubble bursts
OPINION: Talking about plant-based food: “Chicken-free chicken” start-up Sunfed has had its valuation slashed to zero by major investor Blackbird Ventures, and its products are no longer available in supermarkets.
OPINION: Two years ago, it was launched as the world's first floating platform housing a herd of cows and a dairy, and generated headlines around the world.
But the "floating farm" in Rotterdam is back in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Concerns about animal welfare have again been raised after two cows on the farm in Rotterdam's harbour fell into the water.
A local animal rights group says that it had tried and failed to get a majority in the city council to withdraw the farm's operating permit, calling the project "madness".
The floating farm is promoted as sustainable, recycling the animals' waste on site, and giving an example of urban farming that could produce more food within cities of the future.
But calls for the farm to be closed are growing louder after a second cow fell into the water and had to be rescued recently.
Rural trader PGG Wrightson has revised its operating earnings guidance, saying trading conditions have deteriorated since the last market update in February.
It's been a bumper season for maize and other supplements in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
Leading farmers from around New Zealand connected to share environmental stories and inspiration and build relationships at the Dairy Environment Leaders (DEL) national forum in Wellington last month.
AgriZeroNZ, a joint venture fast-tracking emissions reduction tools for farmers, is pouring $5 million in a biotech company to develop a low emissions farm pasture with increased productivity gains.
Fonterra is teaming up with wealth app provider Sharesies to make it easier for its farmer shareholders to trade co-op shares among themselves.
Te Awamutu dairy farmers Doug, Penny, Josh and Bayley Storey have planted more than 25,000 native trees on the family farm, adding to a generations-old native forest.