Diplomatic Incident
OPINION: Your old mate hears an international incident is threatening to blow up the long-standing Anzac alliance as Kiwis and Aussies argue over who wants new Australian resident and former NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recently turned the first sod at Silver Fern Farms' Beflast (Christchurch) meat works for a project slated as a major step in the company's ambition to become coal-free by 2030.
The Belfast Hot Temperature Pump will be a heat pump harnessing waste heat from the refrigeration process to heat hot water for other parts of the plant's operation.
It is expected to slash about 8% off the company's total coal consumption by replacing 1,500 tonnes of coal a year and abate 59,000 tonnes of carbon across its lifetime.
About half of the $1.6 million cost is coming from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) fund.
Funding has also been secured for similar pumps at SFF's Finegand and Pareora plants.
Jacinda Ardern told VIPs and Belfast plant workers at the launch that some have called the GIDI scheme "corporate welfare" but she considers it a direct partnership that has had "huge" potential.
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.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.
Philip and Lyneyre Hooper of the Hoopman Family Trust have tonight been named the Taranaki Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.