A major dairy conversion, transforming 2500ha of forestry into five farms near Taupo, is on track to start milking on August 1.

The Ballance Farm Environment Awards open farmers to new networks they may not know about says national judging coordinator Andrea Hanna.

Farming in New Zealand in 2015 can be summarised in two words: challenge and opportunity; it is through resilience that the former turns into the later.

The lower dollar will put extra money in wool growers’ pockets but volatility in demand from China can be expected, say wool market experts.

“A brilliant initiative” was the reaction of Massey University professor Peter Kemp to a recent visit by journalism students from Massey’s Wellington campus.

The bad news continues for dairy farmers with the GDT price index seeing yet another drop at the latest dairy auction.

An international agricultural journalist and science writer believes horticulture will, long term, gradually replace dairying as NZ’s leading farming and food production industry.

An economist who heads the ‘think tank’ New Zealand Initiative says despite dairy price problems the country’s economy is doing remarkably well.

One dairy industry stalwart has had enough and is switching to beef farming.

Sheep productivity has improved against a background of a massive drop in stock numbers since 1990, says Beef + Lamb NZ chief economist Andrew Burtt.