LIC ends year with $30.6m profit
Herd improvement company LIC has ended the 2024-25 financial year in a strong position - debt-free and almost quadrupling its net profit.
National Bank has been named New Zealand's leading agribusiness bank.
The inaugural CANSTAR Best Agribusiness Bank New Zealand award was presented to National Bank's managing director of commercial & agri Graham Turley by CANSTAR New Zealand national manager, Derek Bonnar.
National Bank was named winner ahead of four other agribusiness banks for overall value and the quality of the products and services it offers New Zealand's rural sector.
"It is a great honour for National Bank to be named Best Agribusiness Bank," says Turley.
"The award is testament to the commitment and hard work of our people. Their knowledge, experience and relationships in the rural sector has enabled us to provide a range of products and services that best meets the needs of rural businesses and rural people.
"Together, National Bank and ANZ are New Zealand's biggest rural lender and have the most extensive rural banking network.
"We are constantly looking at ways to grow the industry and support the people in it, such as our new $120 million start-up package for young farmers."
Strengths highlighted by the awards judges include customers' access to a force of 173 dedicated agribusiness managers plus a 24-hour agribusiness call centre and free farming seminars.
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) has released its 2026 election manifesto, outlining priorities to support the sector’s growth, resilience, and contribution to New Zealand’s food security and export revenue.
Farmers have voted to continue the Milksolids Levy that funds DairyNZ.
Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell has resigned after eight years in the role.
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.

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…