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.
Demand for tickets to the inaugural Beef + Lamb New Zealand Awards has led to the announcement that the event will be livestreamed.
B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor says tickets to the Awards Dinner, set to be held in Napier on 29 September, sold out within a short space of time.
He says livestreaming the event will allow anyone to watch as the finalists of the eight awards are introduced and the winners are announced.
“While we were delighted that the tickets were snapped up so quickly, we were aware that a lot of people who would like to have attended the Awards Dinner were unable to get a ticket,” McIvor says.
“Livestreaming will allow anyone, anywhere to be part of the evening where we will recognise those individuals who help make this country’s red meat sector world-leading.”
McIvor says B+LNZ, along with awards partner Farmlands and category sponsors, have been pleased at how well the awards have been supported, in both the quality and the quantity of entries and in ticket sales.
“Aside of the COVID-19 disruptions, we could not have wished for a better start to the inaugural B+LNZ Awards. The support from industry highlights that there was a real need for a platform from which we could showcase and celebrate the individuals working within our world-leading red meat industry.”
To sign up for the livestream, head to https://beeflambnz.com/awards-dinner
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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