Top wool advocate bales out
The conversion of productive farmland into trees has pretty much annihilated the wool industry.
An iconic agricultural figure – shearer David Fagan – is now Sir David.
Fagan's knighthood was announced in the recent new year honours list and recognises his 30 years at the forefront of competitive shearing sports until his retirement last year.
Fagan won 642 open championships, was an individual world champion five times and a world team champion seven times. He was the first shearer to exceed 800 lambs and 700 ewes in a nine hour working day under world record rules. He has represented New Zealand at least 120 times in various teams.
He was recently appointed chairman of Shearing Sports New Zealand and been on the committee of the New Zealand Shearing Championships since 1985.
Fagan has played a huge role in the promotion of his home town of Te Kuiti as the shearing capital of the world.
Others in the ag sector to recognised in the honours list were farmer John Lee who receives the CNZM for developing a number of tourism businesses in the Cadrona Valley.
The ONZM has been awarded to David Civil for developing dairy by-products as a fertiliser. Dr Andrew McEwen received the same honour for his services to forestry and Professor Norman Williamson also received the ONZM for services to the veterinary profession.
MNZM's were awarded to Jonathon Kirk for devising the K-Line spray irrigation system and Linda Nelson for services to agriculture and women.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.