George Dodson on Efficiency and Low-Cost Dairy Farming
Efficiency is the big one because it tracks back into what is done on farm.
The 2024 FMG Young Farmer of the Year Region-off is underway.
Principal sponsor FMG is reminding locals to get on board with earning points to keep their region at the top of the table.
The FMG Region-off was a new feature in last year’s Young Farmer of the Year contest suite. The category saw AgriKids, Junior and Young Farmers competing in a regional showdown earning points through public voting and community focussed challenges.
FMG’s head of events, travel and sponsorship Charlotte Cooley says the seven Young Farmer regional communities now had six weeks to get to work earning points before the coveted Grand Final event held in Hamilton in early July.
“Last year’s community focussed challenges saw an outstanding 679 meals distributed to local communities, 13 trailer loads of firewood delivered and 55 local farmers helped out with on farm tasks like drenching and crutching.”
“A big thanks in advance to all the parents, teachers, community leaders and contributors who help make things happen. We are looking forward to seeing what community focussed work goes on this year by the regions looking to take out the top spot.”
Previous iterations of FMG’s community level element of the competition have included the People’s Choice Award.
“We had some great engagement with People’s Choice over the years but the Region-off allows the very regions these Young Farmers represent the opportunity to benefit from their competitiveness”.
Last year’s winners were the East Coast who took home $5000 for their chosen charity, East Coast Rural Support Trust.
Bigger, bolder salads packed with colour, crunch and flavour are making headlines overseas — and the arrival of fresh spring vegetables means New Zealanders can now get chopping too, creating their own Great Kiwi Spring Salad.
Chinese beef trade quotas and a looming suspension of Brazilian beef imports into the European Union are expected to reshape global beef trade flows over the remainder of 2026, with implications for New Zealand exporters, according to Rabobank's Q3 Global Beef Quarterly report.
James Blair, an agronomist for AS Wilcox and the Pukekohe regional champion, has won the 2026 Young Grower national title.
An Auckland gelato shop and an established New Zealand ice cream maker have both been named Supreme Champions at the NZ Ice Cream & Gelato Awards 2026.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues to put pressure on household grocery budgets, new figures show pork remains one of the most affordable fresh meat options for New Zealand families.
OPINION: In politics, credibility is and should be big. It must surely rank higher than charisma, which is quite trite and superficial. Yet, voters nowadays are often wooed and influenced by how someone looks or talks at a superficial level. TV plays a huge role in this.