Applications Open for 2026 NZI Rural Women Business Awards
Applications are now open for the 2026 NZI Rural Women Business Awards, set to be held at Parliament on 23 July.
OPINION: Rural services such as banks, health and postal services have been declining for years, so this mutt was tickled pink to hear Rural Women NZ on national TV slamming the impact of post office closures in rural areas.
Your old mate has worried about the decline in this vital service for years now, including reduced delivery days for RD drivers, and regular hikes in the RD rates, making the RD ‘channel’ to farms less viable every year.
RWNZ’s attitude to this is a huge step up on the Feds CEO who, when asked a couple of years back by a mate of yours truly to advocate against the RD rate hikes for rural users, responded with surprising indifference, saying, “Well, NZ Post are overdue for a rate increase”.
Fonterra’s impending exit from the Australian dairy industry is a major event but the story doesn’t change too much for farmers.
Expect greater collaboration between Massey University’s school of Agriculture and Environment and Ireland’s leading agriculture university, the University College of Dublin (UCD), in the future.
A partnership between Torere Macadamias Ltd and the Riddet Institute aims to unlock value from macadamia nuts while growing the next generation of Māori agribusiness researchers.
A new partnership between Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) and NZAgbiz aims to make evidence-based calf rearing practices accessible to all farm teams.
Despite some trying circumstances recently, the cherry season looks set to emerge on top of things.
Changed logos on shirts otherwise it will be business as usual when Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses are expected to change hands next month.

OPINION: Here w go: the election date is set for November 7 and the politicians are out of the gate…
OPINION: ECan data was released a few days ago showing Canterbury farmers have made “giant strides on environmental performance”.