PASTURE HAS become central to every farm management system for Wayne and Raewyn Reynolds at their 460-cow, 154ha farm at Gordonton, North Waikato.

WHAT IS it with politicians wanting New Zealand to be like other countries?

WITH ALL the force of a new religious crusade the environment is becoming the opiate of the masses. As a closet greenie from way back I still get goosebumps thinking about saving whales, dolphins, yellow-eyed penguins, kakapo and rainforests.

YOU'VE GOT to take your hat off to them. A South Island farmer group's plans to build a flour mill is one of the boldest moves ever seen in the sector. They not only face a major factory construction project, and governance of the plant thereafter, also they're entering a fiercely competitive market.

THE HIGH New Zealand dollar is hurting, but fixed-price contracts for lamb will help give Landcorp a reasonably strong second half, says chief executive Chris Kelly.

BRITAIN'S BIGGEST fresh milk supplier, Robert Wiseman Dairies, is offering the equivalent of a 5c/L premium for A2 milk.

THE GOVERNMENT plans to change the law on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to make it easier to defer bringing agriculture into the scheme in 2015.

A PETITION calling for a second vote on TAF (trading among farmers) is to be presented to Parliament by Fonterra farmers. Organisers say they are gaining overwhelming support but are running out of time to reach all farms.

The great promise of emerging markets is beginning to crystallise for New Zealand wool leading to renewed optimism among growers that finally, wool may be 'back in fashion', according to a new industry report.

An "enthusiastic and incredibly driven" couple has been named Supreme winners of the 2012 Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards