How to prepare safely for the Roar in 2026
The Roar is a highlight of the game hunting calendar in New Zealand, with thousands of hunters set to head for the hills to hunt male stags during March and April.
OPINION: Good news for hunters as Forest & Bird have "paused" legal action against the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation and agreed conservation work can continue without the extermination of wapiti.
The legal action was an own goal in the first place.
For 13 years, DOC worked with the Foundation, letting hunters pay for ballot access to hunt this prized species, providing population management of an introduced species for free.
So could this signal a change in attitude from the normally litigious F&B?
We can only hope, but the Hound isn't holding his breath.
F&B have taken legal action against government numerous times: opposing amendments to consenting pathways for wetlands; suing over fisheries catch limits; blocking mining initiatives.
Let's hope the sensible decision over Wapiti will hold and F&B will keep their well-paid lawyers on a leash for once.
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.

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