OVER HALF New Zealand’s ewe lambs could go to the ram every year, earning more for farmers and country alike, says one of the country’s leading animal scientists.

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The old image of farmers being dyed in the wool consumers of traditional media, late adopters of digital technology and low users of social media has been blown apart by a major piece of research commissioned by Waikato/Bay of Plenty based agency, King St.

The West Coast is today forwarding its request to the Ministry for Primary Industries for a medium scale adverse event declaration.

A state of drought has been officially declared throughout the entire North Island. And the Government is keeping a close eye on the South Island.

Now the drought is widespread sharemilkers and their employers need to urgently sit down and jointly plan the close of the 2012-13 season.

With the South Island's West Coast in the grip of drought, which is a highly unusual event, most farmers on the West Coast will have no idea how to cope with it or its aftermath.

IrrigationNZ says water storage needs to be fast-tracked to drought-proof agriculture as New Zealand can no longer carry the cost of a significant drought every five years.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy was impressed by the scale of Brazilian agriculture when he met with Brazilian Agriculture Minister Mendes Ribeiro Filho in Brasilia at the end of a nine-day trade mission to Latin America led by Prime Minister John Key.

Fonterra's European policy and advocacy manager Kimberly Crewther will return to New Zealand in June to become the new general manager of policy and advocacy for industry body DairyNZ.