FARMERS’ PROBLEMS  caused by the drop in Fonterra’s forecast milk solid payout are best tackled head-on with agribusiness management training, says Primary ITO, which offers courses in this discipline. The need is urgent to review and revise budgets and monitor cashflow to ensure debt levels don’t rise unnecessarily.  Spending cuts, increasing milk production and generally improving onfarm performance are among the options.

Massey researchers are four years into a trial which could have profound implications for beef and dairy farmers alike. Peter Burke reports the details as relayed at a recent Beef + Lamb NZ and DairyNZ dairy/beef integration day in the Manawatu.

IGNORING A new and unknown species in your pasture could cost you thousands of dollars later, so scout your paddocks and get help with anything untoward, says a leading weed scientist.

HANGAWERA STATION, part of Tainui Group Holdings, held its annual bull sale in early October. 

The problems caused by droughts in the far north have been well documented but a sometimes forgotten pasture species can help mitigate the impact. Gareth Gillatt reports.

TALL FESCUE is increasingly becoming the pasture of choice on some of Landcorp’s Northland farms in the face of increasingly severe summer droughts. 

SOUTH CANTERBURY farmer Alvin Reid is a happy man when he wakes up in the morning without having had a text overnight from his robotic farm.

SICK AND tired of bad press about farming? Then why not enter the Ballance Farm Environment Awards?

A SURVEY prompted by lack of data on calf deaths in the New Zealand dairy industry has found there’s a huge range in mortality.

RURAL CONTRACTORS New Zealand is questioning the high cost of machinery and parts charged contractors and farmers.