McRae Wins Southern South Island B+LNZ Director Vote
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.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has appointed Sam McIvor as its new chief executive officer.
He will also have the role of CEO of the New Zealand Meat Board.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand chairman James Parsons says McIvor is an experienced CEO who brings a range of strategic thinking and management experience to support both organisations' work for sheep and beef farmers, and the broader sector.
McIvor is currently the group general manager farm operations at Ospri and he has held the roles of CEO Preston Corp Ltd and CEO of New Zealand Pork.
His primary industry career has spanned on-farm activity through to processing and retail. This included Beef + Lamb New Zealand's predecessor organisation Meat & Wool New Zealand as the research and development manager and product and information transfer manager.
McIvor will replace current CEO Dr Scott Champion on April 1. Champion leaves the organisation following seven and a half years as CEO of Beef + Lamb New Zealand and the New Zealand Meat Board.
New Zealand's diverse cheesemaking talent shone brightly last night as the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) crowned the champions of the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards.
Tracing has indicated that the source of the first velvetleaf find of the 2025-26 crop season, in Auckland, was likely maize purchased in the Waikato region.
Fish & Game New Zealand has announced its election priorities in its Manifesto 2026.
With the forage maize harvest started in Northland and the Waikato, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) is telling growers of later crops, or those further south, to start checking their maize crop maturity about three weeks prior to when they think they will start silage harvesting.
Irrigation NZ is warning that the government's Resource Management Act (RMA) reform risks falling short of its objectives unless water use for food production and water storage infrastructure are clearly recognised in the goals at the top of the new system.
More than five million trays, or 18,000 tonnes, of Zespri’s RubyRed Kiwifruit will soon be available for consumers across 16 markets this season.

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