IF DROUGHT conditions continue next week, it’s ‘crunch time’ for decision-making on beef and dairy farms in Northland and Waikato.

THE APPARENT lack of a real ‘spring’ has triggered rapidly developing drought conditions in many parts of Hawkes Bay and the North Island East Coast.

CONSENTS APPLICATIONS for the dam and the overall Ruataniwha scheme are expected to be lodged in March, to be heard by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure independence.

THE PROSPECT of irrigation addresses some of the woes of Hawkes Bay’s annual drought, says Beef + Lamb NZ chairman Mike Petersen.

HOW DO you assess whether a paddock needs renewing? The Pasture Renewal Charitable Trust is encouraging use of a condition scoring system akin to those used to assess cattle or sheep.

The Metalform Tow and Fert liquid fertiliser mixer/spreader is good for much more than spreading fertiliser, says Northland dairy farmer James Brady.

The Waikato Regional Council's implementation of Variation 6 for the farming community is now rolling out to the Lower Waikato and West Coast catchments.

Rural Women NZ has received a big response to its 'Feeling Rotten' survey in the first week since its launch.

Rural insurer, FMG, has announced the prize draw winners of their milk quality awareness campaign.

Any increase in farmer confidence comes from the dairy sector and even that is off a low base. That is one of Federated Farmers' conclusions from its 2012/13 Mid-Season Farm Confidence Survey.