Females are dominating the veterinary profession worldwide and many farmers are welcoming this change in the composition of the profession, says Britain's Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) Professor Christine Middlemiss.

In a few weeks the winner of the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori dairy farm will be revealed at a gala dinner in Hamilton. In the past couple of weeks, the two finalists in this year’s competition have been holding on-farm field days to showcase why they are finalists. Peter Burke has attended both field days.

An initial trial of an app, funded by Beef + Lamb New Zealand, has demonstrated significant results in reducing drench inputs during a small-scale study.

The dry weather in some parts of the North Island has received medium-scale adverse event classification from the Government.

The finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy competition to select the top Māori dairy farm in the country are now busy planning and organising field days at their respective properties.

Recent rains across much of the country have had little impact on some of the worst hit drought regions of the country - namely the top of the South Island.

Two dairy farms – one at Mangakino in the central North Island and one at Opotiki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty are the finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy.

MetService meteorologist James Millward says the country’s weather patterns are now on a much more even footing.

They came from all around the country to Horowhenua recently to showcase farming in the early days.

OPINION: Your canine crusader reckons no single lobby group has had a bigger turnaround in fortunes than Federated Farmers since the election of the new coalition Government.