India FTA 'still a priority'
Agriculture and Overseas Trade Minister Todd McClay says his government is pulling out all the stops to get a trade deal with India.
WAIKATO FARM consultant Sharlene Charleston is the first to achieve accreditation under a new people management certification scheme launched last month at the NZIPIM's annual conference.
Charleston works for Te Awamutu-based farm people management consultancy, No.8 HR.
NZIPIM chief executive Stephen Macaulay says the programme, supported by funding from DairyNZ, was introduced to provide farmers with confidence that industry standards have been met by the consultant in 10 key areas. They include performance management; coaching and mentoring; recruitment; and health and wellbeing.
"People on-farm are key to productivity and business growth and too often this is stunted by high staff turnover," says Macaulay. "Certified people management consultants can improve the way farmers manage their staff and then everybody wins – the farmer, the employee and the industry."
Charleston is a former dairy farmer who started with No.8 HR in January 2011.
Visit www.nzipim.co.nz
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.

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