Waterway restoration sees return of endangered mudfish
A critically threatened endemic freshwater fish found only in Canterbury has been discovered at a Craigmore Sustainables farm near Timaru.
Farming, horticulture, and forestry company Craigmore Sustainables has announced two key appointments in its senior leadership line-up.
Reuben Casey has been appointed Craigmore’s chief operating officer, while Con Williams will join the company as its new general manager horticulture.
Casey was previously chief executive of outdoor retailer Kathmandu. Prior to that he held positions at TaylorMade Adidas Golf and Meridian energy.
Craigmore chief executive Che Charteris says Casey being outstanding experience to the role.
“There are a lot of similarities between Kathmandu and Craigmore – a reliance on empowered teams spread around the country, the need to drive sustainability and develop and operate strong systems,” Charteris says.
He adds the company looks forward to Casey’s contributions to the company’s mission of growing the best of New Zealand.
“Over the past two years, we have reached well over NZ$1 billion of capital under management. More importantly, we have been nationally recognised for our dairy sustainability programme, built a stunning forestry estate and transformed farmland in Central Hawke’s Bay into one of New Zealand’s iconic apple orchards.
“The New Zealand investor base remains very important to Craigmore and we have exciting plans in place to raise more capital domestically over the course of the next 12 months.”
Case says he is delighted to join Craigmore.
“I am excited to contribute to Craigmore’s purpose, which is to produce food and fibre that is sought after around the world,” he says.
Meanwhile, Con Williams joins the company late next month from MyFarm, where he is currently general manager investments and prior to that, he was ANZ’s agri economist.
He says he is pleased by the opportunity to lead Craigmore’s horticultural operations and foster a strong team culture where individuals can grow their careers.
“I look forward to joining the Craigmore team, overseeing Craigmore’s apple, kiwifruit and vineyard teams, participating in the company’s further growth and bringing its current asset base into full production over the coming years,” he says.
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.

OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities…
OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in…