Rural Vote Debate on Q&A: Substance or Just Platitudes?
It was billed as a chance for all the political parties to woo the rural vote, but question marks hang over just how effective this was.
OPINION: Your canine crusader reckons moves by the new government to try and breathe new life into the country's ailing wool industry will have little real impact.
It recently announed that over the next three months, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay will be joined by Mark Patterson, in his role as Minister for Rural Communities and delegation as Associate Minister responsible for wool on a national woolshed roadshow.
"Under my delegation as Minister responsible for wool I will be working with farmers to rebuild the industry into a strong sector that recognises the exporting and sustainability potential of the product," Patterson says.
Perhaps a better way to go would be a detailed look into the effectiveness of the Strong Wool Action Group (SWAG) - chaired by Rob Hewett - that despite major taxpayer funding has done SFA to lift the profile or prices of NZ strong wool.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.

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