Let the games begin!
New Zealand's largest celebration of rural sports athletes and enthusiasts – New Zealand Rural Games - is back for its 10th edition, kicking off in Palmerston North from Thursday, March 6th to Sunday, March 9th, 2025.
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.
The resolution, proposed by the US and adopted by consensus, invites FAO in collaboration with other UN Rome-based Agencies, to facilitate the implementation and observance of the International Year of the Woman Farmer.
It also invites UN Member States, organisations of the United Nations System, other international organisations and stakeholders, including civil society, private sector and academia, to increase awareness of the crucial role women farmers around the world play in agrifood systems, as well as their contributions to food security, nutrition and poverty eradication.
In this regard, the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 is designed to serve as a platform for the adoption of effective policies and actions against the barriers and challenges women farmers face across agrifood systems, as well as to promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women in agriculture.
The observance will also highlight the role of peasant women and other rural women in ensuring the economic survival of their families and contributing to both the rural and national economies.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
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OPINION: The proposed RMA reforms took a while to drop but were well signaled after the election.