FARMERS MUST lift their game on environmental and labour issues over the next three years.

FEDERATED FARMERS new president Dr William Rolleston says the organisation is a "broad church' which must represent the views of all its members.

DAIRY FARMERS are up for the challenge of working with local communities to fix local water quality problems and deliver on the Government's new national water quality standards, says DairyNZ.

WASHING STAND-OFF pads and dairy shed yards with recycled water could cut fresh water usage by thousands of litres every milking, says Houle solutions and field services technician Murray McEwan.

FEDERATED FARMERS' Dairy Industry Group has elected Feilding farmer Andrew Hoggard as its new chairman.

A SOFTENING in dairy farmer sentiment and rising interest rates have led overall New Zealand rural confidence to a significant slide in the past quarter.

MARK AND Devon Slee, national winners of the 2014 Ballance Farm Environment Awards, will make outstanding ambassadors for New Zealand agriculture, says Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills.

THE BOARD of Inquiry (BOI) hearing the proposal to build a $275 million water storage dam in Hawkes Bay has just released its final decision.

CANTERBURY FARMERS Mark and Devon Slee have won the National Winner title in the 2014 Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

THE WAIKATO REGIONAL Council has confirmed it will suspend use of helicopters for monitoring dairy farm effluent compliance pending a review of its methods for checking farmers are working within the rules to protect waterways.