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FOUR finalists in the 33rd Lincoln University Foundation South Island Farmer of the Year completion have been announced.
Under the theme 'Innovation in Farming', they stretch from Sawdon Station, a high country station using lupins as a forage crop, to the multi-farm irrigated dairy business of Synlait Farms which has a novel approach to personnel management.
Methven arable and fodder crop farmers Andy and Kate Chapman, and Ashburton specialist croppers and technology enthusiasts Deanne and Joanne Taylor make up the quartet.
Second judging visits will be made shortly, then on November 8 the finalists make a presentation about their business at Lincoln, after which a winner will be announced.
Canterbury farmer Andy Macfarlane has been appointed to the board of AgriZeroNZ, the public-private partnership designed to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reduction tools for New Zealand farmers.
Waikato dairy farmer Danielle Hovmand has been named the primary sector's top emerging leader.
New Zealand’s wine industry produces around 100,000 tonnes of grape marc waste annually, while the forestry sector generates over five million tonnes of wood residue.
A young man just five years out of his Lincoln University degree already has his foot in the door of farm ownership, as equity manager of a large new dairy conversion now taking shape in Mid- Canterbury.
A revolving door of chief executives at milk processor Synlait is a warning sign, says Lincon University senior lecturer in agribusiness Nic Lees.
Signing up to a benchmarking tool is not about competition, but about improving collectively, says Ximena Puig and Alvaro Luzardo who are 50-50 sharemilkers at a 164-hectare (effective) dairy farm in Eketāhuna in the Lower North Island.
A leading British farming politician says he's impressed with the positive attitude of New Zealand farmers that he met during his recent trip here.
OPINION: With 10,500 dairy farms, New Zealand continues to punch above its weight around the world.
The Southern Dairy Hub (SDH), which runs a demonstration farm for South Island farmers, has a new general manager.
Esther Guy-Meakin has been announced as the new chief executive of the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
According to a progress report on the Aotearoa Horticulture Action Plan (AHAP), New Zealand's horticulture sector is making real progress on the big issues facing growers.
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