Pay Equity Crucial for Rural Communities - RWNZ
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) says it welcomes the release of a new report into pay equity.
Rural Women New Zealand recently appointed Gabrielle O'Brient as its new chief executive.
"Gabrielle brings a wealth of experience from her previous general management roles in membership based organisations both in the charitable sector and most recently at the New Zealand Law Society," RWNZ president Gill Naylor says.
"This experience combined with her earlier background human resources management, facilitation and organisation development provide her with a strong background to lead our team through the next phase of our development."
O'Brien says she's looking forward to building on the strong legacy of RWNZ and working to provide the best possible platform for rural women to raise and progress issues that are important to them.
"Our rural communities are an integral part of the social and economic fabric of New Zealand.
"Women play a key role in these communities whether as primary producers, community influencers and connectors, entrepreneurs, educators or in the myriad of other essential professional and social roles they hold."
O'Brien took up her appointment at RWNZ earlier this month.
New Zealand's diverse cheesemaking talent shone brightly last night as the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) crowned the champions of the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards.
Tracing has indicated that the source of the first velvetleaf find of the 2025-26 crop season, in Auckland, was likely maize purchased in the Waikato region.
Fish & Game New Zealand has announced its election priorities in its Manifesto 2026.
With the forage maize harvest started in Northland and the Waikato, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) is telling growers of later crops, or those further south, to start checking their maize crop maturity about three weeks prior to when they think they will start silage harvesting.
Irrigation NZ is warning that the government's Resource Management Act (RMA) reform risks falling short of its objectives unless water use for food production and water storage infrastructure are clearly recognised in the goals at the top of the new system.
More than five million trays, or 18,000 tonnes, of Zespri’s RubyRed Kiwifruit will soon be available for consumers across 16 markets this season.

OPINION: Election years are usually regarded as the silly season, but a mate of the Hound reckons 2026 is shaping…
OPINION: If farmers poured just a few litres of some pollutant into a stream, the Green Party and the wider…