DIRA Review: Open Country Dairy Warns Against Regulatory "Complacency"
The country's second largest milk processor is warning against 'complacency' during a review of competition regulations in the dairy sector.
The Government has announced a new rural scholarship designed to back emerging primary sector leaders.
Three scholarships each year are set to support young farmers to grow in confidence and gain experience to become farm leaders of the future.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay says recipients will receive a grant of $10,000 to go towards domestic and international study and capability building and to grow industry-wide experience and best practice.
The “Minister of Agriculture Future Leaders Scholarship” will help identify emerging leaders across the primary sector including in agriculture, horticulture and forestry.
It will help foster leadership and capability development, supporting successful applicants to grow their governance skills and encouraging the creation of opportunities for practical hands-on primary sector governance experience.
The Ministry for Primary Industries will work with sector leaders to ensure the programme effectively targets capability gaps in rural governance and will develop an annual application process with relevant criteria to ensure the programme is fair and transparent.
“The Kiwi can-do attitude is world-renowned and this scholarship is about nurturing that,” McClay says.
“This Government is committed to finding pathways to build the future in a way that supports the sector’s sustained success.”
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.