It was the call of the land that saw Dairy Women's Network's newest staff member pack up her family from living the city life and head back to the family's 830-cow dairy farm.

Leading a discussion after the Groves and Lincoln presentations, DairyNZ consulting officer Caleb Strowger asked what is being retained, reduced, deferred or removed from budgets this season.

Goats can be like pets and easier to handle than dairy cattle, says Oete Farms director Matt Bolton.

Attracting and retaining good people and having a flexible and resilient farming system is the cornerstone of a good dairy farm operation. 

While the latest floods in the lower North Island are not as widespread and therefore not in the same league as those of 2004, they are nonetheless distressing and devastating to many farming families.

The chair of the Maori dairy company Miraka, Kingi Smiler, says his company is more resilient in lower payout years than Fonterra.

An Irish bull famously saved from slaughter even though his owners thought he was gay has now surprised them by trying to mate with cows.

Fonterra is expecting milk production worldwide to slow as the low price makes it unsustainable to milk cows.

Most people’s bucket list has things like skydiving, walking the Great Wall of China or owning a special car. But atop Levin dairy farmer and contractor Graham Bagrie’s list was something quite different. 

More than 200 people turned up to the field day Maranga Station. Maranga is a typical East Coast hill country sheep and beef property and lies about 30km southwest of Gisborne on the Tiniroto Road.