Category: Rural

Source: Radio New Zealand

For the first time in 40 years, no fish will be weighed in at Mid Canterbury’s Rakaia Fishing Competition today, due to woefully low numbers of salmon in the river.

The small farming township was once world famous for its abundant chinook salmon and other fish populations in the Rakaia River, even boasting a mighty 12-metre high salmon statue on state highway 1.

But numbers of sea-run salmon/hāmana, trout/tarauta and other aquatic life like smelt/paraki in the river have drastically declined in recent years.

This year, the 400 people entered in the iconic competition will instead vie for a lucky dip draw of $60,000 worth of prizes, including a motorbike – usually reserved for the heaviest fish.

Event organiser, Rakaia River Fishing Promotions’ president, Chris Agnew said it was a very difficult decision to run the event without fishing.

But he hoped it would encourage fish to come back and spawn in the river.

“It was a tough call to make because you know, like that’s what the thing is about, is trying to catch the biggest fish,” he said.

“It was the most sensible thing we could come up with that gave the competitors a chance to come and enjoy the competition or enjoy the camaraderie … But also to protect what fish are left coming back into the river, and to give them half a chance at spawning up the top.”

Agnew said low freshwater fish numbers were not isolated just to Rakaia.

“We’re not the only rivers, like every river in the South Island is suffering the same problem with no numbers.”

The Rakaia Fishing Competition started in the early 1980s and runs to Sunday. It bills itself as “the most successful fresh water fishing competition”. The contest started in 1983 as a way to promote local businesses but has evolved to promote ways to defend the river and highlight the fishery’s demise.

Earlier this month, Greenpeace activists vandalised Rakaia’s iconic salmon statue, turning it into a dead fish saying, “Fonterra killed my family” and blaming “dirty dairying”.

A spokesman said the protest was to highlight the damage to the Rakaia and pointed to the fishing competition not involving any fish.

Anglers’ harvest limited, more restrictions considered

Anglers have been restricted to catching just one salmon with current bag limits, and in January, Fish and Game consulted them on possible further restrictions on the fishery.

North Canterbury Fish and Game Council’s operations manager, Lyndon Slater said anglers were concerned, and the issue was not unique to Canterbury, where salmon numbers were historically low.

“The environmental pressures that we’re seeing are reflected right around right around the country. Particularly our East Coast rivers, we have seen the same decline across the board.”

Slater said environmental factors like warming oceans and reduced river flows from water takes were the largest drivers behind the decline.

He said that water takes affected river flows and the conditions of the habitats that supported spawning.

“We’ve seen, obviously with climate change, we’ve seen the impact of those consented takes decrease the quantity and quality of the water in the river.

“The impact of reduction in flows increases the temperature in the river and does result in increased mortality of fish.

“So while we recognise the need for irrigation generally, we would always like to see more water in rivers and the efficient use of water through that regulatory process.”

He said the Council wanted to see increased minimum flows in future.

“The issue isn’t necessarily with the [consenting] process itself, it’s around the amount that they allocated for its use and then how that water is used for the activity.”

Fish and Game’s latest sea-run salmon survey for the 2024/25 season said estimated harvest decreased on all four major sea-run salmon fisheries at the Rakaia, Rangitata, Waimakariri and Waitaki Rivers compared to the season prior.

“This is the third consecutive year we have observed a decline in the number of salmon harvested. On each of the four major salmon fishing rivers, the estimated harvest was less than half the previous season estimate,” it read.

Too much river water’s being taken – fishers

New Zealand Salmon Anglers’ Association president, Paul Hodgson said anglers saw the decline of the Rakaia River on a daily basis, describing the state of the fishery “like a death”.

“The only thing I can say for absolute dead certain is that the salmon in the rivers are almost gone. The trout in the lowland rivers are almost gone from where they used to be. The Stokell’s smelt are gone. All of these are indicators that something is not right.

“We’re living the funeral. We’ve been living it for the past five or ten years and nobody’s done anything about it to have any significant impact on it.”

Hogson said water extraction consents allowed enormous volumes of water to be taken from the Rakaia and other rivers, which affected river flow, the ecosystems and worsened sediment build-up.

“What’s truly amazing is people think that you can take 50 percent of the water out of the river and expect there to be no impact.”

He said the Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) considered river health as proportional to river flow, but all adverse effects from water takes were not being properly tested.

“Well the health of the river doesn’t feature in the consent. And yet in every clause of a water abstraction consent, there’s a review course that goes along the lines of, ‘this consent may be reviewed if adverse effects are found.’

“But ECan doesn’t monitor for adverse effects, therefore, there is no evidence of decline. Therefore, there is no problem.”

He acknowledged that extraction consents legally allowed large water takes, and consented dairy farmers were authorised to do so, despite river degradation.

“The time has come where we need to start listening to what the science is telling us, and we need to take actions to manage the rivers adequately.”

Consenting conundrum

There were 63 water extraction consents between the Rakaia Gorge bridge and the sea, with minimum flow restrictions for when water could not be taken.

A Water Conservation Order here prevented more than 70 cumecs of water being taken from the river, with the highest daily abstraction at 42 cumecs in September last year.

Environment Canterbury’s general manager of regulatory implementation, Paul Hulse said the Rakaia River was a vital habitat for indigenous birds, aquatic species and a recreation hotspot.

He said it was a major source of hydroelectricity and it also supplied irrigation water to hundreds of farms, managed by consents.

“Each water take consent contains conditions to ensure that the volume is documented and that excess water is not taken, especially when river flow is low.”

Its water and land science manager, Elaine Moriarty said more work was needed to identify the causes of the declining fish populations in Canterbury’s rivers.

“However, there are interactions between climate change and land and water use pressures that may affect hāpua fish communities.”

She said a NIWA report showed changes in ocean conditions were likely a significant driver causing a decline in the survival rates of migratory fish, including Stokell’s smelt larvae.

Extraction not intended to be to be at river’s detriment – irrigators

Canterbury had the largest amount of agricultural land being irrigated across Aotearoa, at just under 480,000 hectares in 2022.

Home to more than a million dairy cows, the region now accounted for around 70 percent of the country’s total dairy farming irrigation.

Industry group Irrigation New Zealand represented water irrigation schemes and companies nationwide.

Chief executive, Karen Williams said water was extracted for a variety of uses in Mid Canterbury, and the schemes adhered to consent conditions.

“There are a lot of arable farms growing different seed and arable crops, there’s irrigated sheep and beef, and dairy,” she said.

“They are not wanting to extract water to the river’s detriment.”

Williams said E-Can was monitoring over-allocation closely, and building more water storage infrastructure would ease the pressure by harnessing rainwater while it was abundant.

“We need to capture and store that water because everyone needs that water, for potable water, anglers and recreation, all wanting to use it.”

Do irrigators’ fish screens work?

Paul Hodgson said there was evidence locally and internationally that the fish screens being used by irrigators to keep fish out of irrigation systems were not all in line with modern designs for effectiveness.

Lyndon Slater said Fish and Game was concerned about the condition of fish screens, especially as consent requirements had strengthened over time.

“The issue being some of these consents are many years old, up to 30-odd years old, and the conditions around them at the time of consenting was not as stringent as it is now,” he said.

“In an ideal world, we would have 100 percent efficiency across our fish screens.”

But Karen Williams said irrigators were working to make sure their fish screens were working well.

“A lot of schemes have invested a lot of time and resources to getting [fish screens] as effective as possible.”

Research carried out by NIWA in 2020 showed the effectiveness of fish screen devices varied considerably nationwide, usually based on design, with modern devices outperforming older ones.

Further research revealed that regional councils nationwide were reporting non-compliant screens that often failed to meet recommended specifications and were ineffective at excluding small fish including native species.

[Jellyman, P.G. (2020a) Effectiveness trials for different fish screen materials: reporting of Year 1 trial results, NIWA Client Report 2020035CH: 37.]

[Jellyman, P.G. (2020b) Status report summarising fish screening issues across New Zealand, NIWA Client Report 2020027CH: 34.]

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/27/fishers-living-the-funeral-of-low-salmon-fish-stocks-in-rakaia-river/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Farmers are renewing calls for the Government to enforce the same animal welfare standards that local pig farmers face on imported pork.

A group of farmers, pork producers and advocates wrote to the Prime Minister and government ministers this week, calling for a “level playing field” among locally-produced and imported product.

The pork industry has wanted this for years now, with industry group NZPork warning that local producers were struggling against a flood of lower-welfare imports.

NZPork estimated that more than 63 percent of pork consumed in Aotearoa came from countries like United States, Spain, Germany and Canada.

In some of these countries, farmers still used sow stalls (narrow cages for pregnant pigs) which New Zealand banned, and had smaller space requirements or longer periods allowed for sows in farrowing crates (that have just given birth to protect the piglets).

It came after last year’s controversial move by the Government to allow farmers a decade grace period before enforcing stricter welfare regulations.

Waikato dairy farmer Walt Cavendish was about to transition his Matamata farming operation into free range pork farming.

He signed the letter addressed to the Government, having said farmers, consumers and the animals deserve high welfare standards.

“New Zealand led the way in 1999 with the Animal Welfare Act. It was a world leading piece of legislation,” he said.

“We made quite a clear decision as a country that animal welfare matters. And we seem to have gone down the road of insisting on that for our farmers, but not insisting that for our imports.”

“For these family farming families, they’re trying to compete with product that would just not be allowed to be farmed here.”

Cavendish had met with officials on the matter previously, and said New Zealand could legally enforce what was called a public morals exemption on importers

“The biggest argument that’s put is the trade implications.

“They’re just so nervous about it.

“Everyone keeps using the trade argument.”

But he said it would be unlikely that those exporting nations would take retaliatory action in response, considering the New Zealand market’s small scale.

“It’s just an argument to try and stop this going further, and that’s why I’m quite firm that the public morals exemption is our best way forward.

“And realistically, with such a low amount of the export from these countries, that they’re hardly going to worry about it.”

He believed people’s fears that pork prices would go up even further if we ditched imports was a “false narrative”, as the national pig herd would likely increase to meet demand.

“Because ultimately, you would be able to produce more, so the cost of production would go down.

“We don’t really feel that the price will go through the roof at all, and there are examples that Animal Policy International have done in their research, where we’re talking peanuts, you know, very little. We’re talking cents, not dollars, in relation to the price adjustment per kilogram of pork.”

But he acknowledged it was a significant concern for cash-strapped consumers, though many of them were passionate about animal welfare.

“One of the big things I get from people that comment to me is their fear of the price going up, because they can’t even now afford a lot of the meat products on the shelf.

Trade minister Todd McClay said if New Zealand introduced requirements based on our methods of production, this could potentially undermine our efforts to prevent other countries from applying unjustified measures that could impact negatively on our agricultural exports.

“Last year animal product exports worth $42 billion reached plates around the globe, making up more than half of our total goods exports.”

“New Zealand is a global leader in farmed animal welfare standards, which underpin our trade reputation and the high quality of our global exports.”

McClay said New Zealand works with other countries to improve animal welfare standards through our membership in the World Organisation for Animal Health and through bilateral collaboration.

“It is important to recognise that different countries have different production systems. Approaches to caring for animals are adapted to local conditions and applying the same standard can sometimes result in different welfare outcomes.”

Food and Agriculture Organization’s latest statistics show New Zealand imported more than 47,000 tonnes of pork in 2023.

The “Fair for Farmers” campaign was launched at the Northland Fieldays in Dargaville today that ran into Saturday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/26/farmers-calling-for-same-animal-welfare-standards-on-local-and-imported-pork/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A community conservation effort is hoping to fund a new processing facility for wild deer in the deep south.

Deer numbers have been exploding in Fiordland National Park following the decline of viable commercial and taxpayer-funded helicopter operations over many decades.

The deer have been ravaging the bush and the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation hopes its planned abattoir in Te Anau will save precious bush and provide an outlet for culled deer.

General manager Roy Sloan said hunting is costly and this initiative could support it by selling meat to the market.

The Fiordland Project estimates that venison sales will help fund deer control operations in the National Park at a greater scale than is currently possible.

“It’s a charitable trust; we’re getting donations from various building companies around the country” Sloan said.

“Our goal is to raise $3 million to build this plant.”

The group of hunters and conservationists is confident funding can be secured.

Sloan is thrilled with the level of support shown for the project so far, with $2 million raised.

A number of tradies and professionals, including electricians and architects, have pledged their time to the project.

Plans of the building, seen by RNZ, show areas for skinning and boning, packaging and processing, and a chiller.

“We know that it’s costly to do deer recovery. We we know that the government can’t afford it, and we know that DOC can’t afford it,” Sloan said.

And while he admits it’s a gamble, he said the risk of a community model might just pay off.

“‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ That in five years we fall over. ‘But what’s the best that can happen?’ We could be still going and solve these problems.”

The Fiordland Wapiti Foundation also maintains a number of back-country huts in the area, including Fiordland National Park’s oldest hut.

How did wapiti become pests?

• wapiti are similar to red deer, but more pale and much larger and heavier
• The first wapiti were introduced into New Zealand in 1873, primarily for hunting
• By the 20th century, wild deer had spread throughout the forests, feeding on young trees, shrubs, ferns and ground cover plants
• From the 1920s, the government employed cullers to control deer populations
• In 1966 the first live deer were captured from the wild by helicopter
• By the 21st century, populations of wapiti and red deer have created major ecological problems
• Deer remain a pest species, significantly impacting native ecosystems

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/26/fiordland-hunters-make-big-push-for-venison-meat-processing-plant/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Fairlie farmer who ended up with a shattered leg after a farm accident has spearheaded a fundraiser to get his local town a new helipad.

It was a normal day on farm for Andrew Hurst, he’d just returned from a bull sale when he was driving a two-wheeler round his farm.

In a split second he was under a Hilux that he had not seen coming from the other direction.

He was airlifted to Christchurch where he spent weeks in hospital undergoing over 10 surgeries to put his leg back together.

Hurst credits the skill and speed of the rescue helicopter with saving his leg and after recovering he quickly went about fundraising $90,000 for a new helipad.

“I felt Fairlie needed something better than just a piece of grass to land on.”

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter is flying into Fairlie on Thursday to officially open the new helipad.

Hurst said it had been a real community effort, with the local Lions Club, companies the Fairlie Community Board, and the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust getting involved.

He admitted building the helipad was more complex than he first anticipated.

“Initially I thought I’d just be able to go down with a digger, scrape a bit of grass off and pour some concrete.”

“It turns out there’s a lot more involved in a helipad than that! But the helipad is as good as it could ever be, I’m stoked with what the community has achieved.”

Hurst said he would hate to think the rescue helicopter couldn’t help someone because it couldn’t land.

“This new helipad is on an IFR route, which means helicopters can fly here in low cloud or more adverse weather conditions.”

“We are a small, rural community, the rescue helicopter is the fastest way we can access critical care – the helipad will save lives,” he said.

Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust chief executive Christine Prince said the Fairlie community has shown an extraordinary level of commitment and heart throughout the helipad project.

“This helipad is a meaningful investment in the future health and safety of Fairlie which will benefit families for generations.”

She said the opening of the helipad is part of a major transformation of the region’s rescue helicopter service, known as MISSION 2026.

The Trust has purchased three state-of-the-art H145 rescue helicopters for the Canterbury West Coast region.

The first of these helicopters is now in service, with work underway to make the other two mission-ready.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/26/fairlie-farmers-accident-inspired-his-fundraising-efforts-for-new-town-helipad/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Labour politicians are dusting off their gumboots and heading to the farm for their annual meeting with Federated Farmers on Thursday.

Federated Farmers started the get-together three years ago to better the relationship with the party.

President Wayne Langford said there was a gap in the relationship and a gap in knowledge of how farmers and the industry worked.

There would be a closed door chat followed by a farm tour around Ashburton on Friday.

Langford said decisions politicians made had a huge impact on farm so it was vital Federated Farmers had a relationship with the major parties.

“I think that what we’ve seen over the last decade would show that it’s a massive impact and can drastically change the way that farms operate.

“So the better the relationship, the better the understanding from MPs and ministers around what’s going on the farm, the better the results that we can get for farmers and ultimately the whole country as well.”

Langford said Labour had not signaled any policy yet so the group was excited to get round the table and have a chat.

It was no secret under the previous Labour government farmers felt bogged down with policy and new regulations.

Langford was hopeful if elected Labour would have a better acknowledgment of what farmers did and the contribution they made to the country.

“If I use emissions and water as an example, you know, what are we actually doing there? What effect are we having and what do the results look like over time?

“You know, under the last Labour government a lot of farmers almost felt like they were screaming against the wall and just not being heard.”

Langford said there had been a turn around with Jo Luxton becoming Labour’s spokesperson for agriculture.

“I think it was time for a fresh voice and Jo Luxton certainly brought a sense of calmness to the situation where there was a little bit of heat in the conversation when Damien [O’Connor] finished up.”

He said Labour leader Chris Hipkins had also put in the hard work.

“We’ve gone from Chris Hipkins showing up at our conference three years ago not knowing a whole lot about agriculture to now being able to stand in front of my national council for 45 minutes without assistance speaking about our sector and answering questions.

“We see that as a real success of what we’re doing here when we’ve got the leader of the opposition that can do that freely and speak frankly to farmers. That’s a good place for us to be.”

Labour’s agriculture spokesperson Jo Luxton said she was looking forward to chatting with farmers but said it was too early to mention any policies the party was working on.

“After the last election it’d be fair to say that things weren’t in the best space with the agricultural sector, so it’s something that’s important to me, to improve that relationship.

“One of the things farmers have said to us loud and clearly is that there was too much too fast, some things felt unachievable so now we’re moving forward and making sure we really listen and understand what the issues are and the best way to address them.”

When asked about the current government’s handling of farming policy, Luxton said Labour had concerns about how the environmental side of things seemed to have slid.

“I’ve also heard from some in the agricultural sector that they are also concerned about that, there’s been comments made to me that the government talks up a big game, but they’re actually not seeing any real benefit on farm.

“But then you also hear the other side of the coin too, where, you know that things are going well, there is a lot of positivity out there amongst the agricultural sector.”

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/26/federated-farmers-optimistic-ahead-of-annual-meeting-with-labour-mps/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government has proposed new options to improve pig and sheep traceability so it can better respond to disease outbreaks.

While counting sheep may put some to sleep – keeping track of the animals and where they had been could be vital when it came to disease management.

At the moment, when sheep were moved between farms, saleyards and meatworks, farmers were required to fill out animal status declarations or ASDs – on paper or in PDF form.

The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) has put out a proposal to improve traceability for sheep and pigs.

The three options included – staying with the status quo, moving to a fully electronic mob tracing system or including sheep in NAIT, The National Animal Identification and Tracing System.

Beef and Lamb chair Kate Acland said moving to electronic monitoring was the preferred option.

“Beef and Lamb supports doing it under it the ASD system but moving to fully electronic forms – it’s already in place and relatively low cost compared to the other options and it’s simple and practical.

“We support improving the traceability in the livestock system, sheep is a gap at the moment – we just need something that is practical and useful on farm.”

Currently cattle and deer were tracked individually under NAIT and farmers paid a levy per animal.

Acland said that was not necessary with sheep.

“Bringing sheep under NAIT would be a lengthy process as it would require changes to the legislation and there would be a greater cost for farmers whereas an ASD is something farmers already use so it just makes sense to use a system that’s already in place.”

One option the MPI proposal did not include was individually tracking each sheep – as Australia, Canada, the UK and the EU did.

The proposal pointed out that of the 38 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), New Zealand was one of 11 countries that did not individually trace sheep.

“Of these 11 countries, New Zealand stands out as being highly reliant on exports of animal-based primary products.”

MPI said New Zealand could be expected to follow global practice and move towards traceability of individual sheep in the future.

“However, we do not discuss individual traceability as an option because a significant amount of work with stakeholders and providers is needed to understand the costs, benefits, and operational resourcing required for this option,” the consultation document said.

Acland said sheep were run in much larger mobs in New Zealand and the benefits of individual tracing would not outweigh the significant costs this would impose on farmers.

Submissions on the proposal close on 5 April.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/25/mpi-proposes-new-options-to-trace-pigs-and-sheep-for-better-disease-response/

Source: Radio New Zealand

While many farmers are riding a wave of strong farm-gate prices, the profits are only trickling into regional economies as they’re being cautious when it comes to spending.

Waikato Chamber of Commerce chief executive Don Good said farmers are using their profits to service debt and pay for upgrades and maintenance on the farm.

“Farmers have had a superb two seasons and now they have the makings of a third great season, their balance sheets have increased substantially. A year ago, people were getting 60 bucks for a lamb now you’re getting over $220. And cows, you could have bought them two, three years ago for around $900, they’re now between 3 to $4000 a head.

“Even wool is doing well and long may it continue because it certainly makes a difference to the Waikato.”

Good said on-farm profits were trickling into the wider economy.

“The general feeling is that farmers are a lot more conservative than they have been in the past, but they are investing in upgrades to the farm so money is beginning to flow through to the wider Waikato economy and our members are very comfortable with that.”

He said spending did differ from individual to individual.

“I mean we had a boat show here in September and I know manufacturers were selling $300,000 boats quiet comfortably.”

“But equally what I’m hearing is that farmers, when they’re looking at the payout range that Fonterra comes out with, which might be between $8-$10, farmers are hearing the eight not the 10, so they’re being conservative.”

He said retail and hospitality businesses that have survived the last few years are starting to feel things pick up.

“The Waikato economy is actually starting, or has been, taking off for some time. The money is coming in certainly through the farming sector, but equally we’re seeing manufacturing pick up, order books have lengthened and there’s a little bit of quiet confidence that this year could see a recovery. But everyone was thinking that in 2025, so we’re actually waiting to see it actually hit the bank accounts.”

It’s a similar story in South Canterbury, chief executive of the local Chamber of Commerce, Wendy Smith, said.

While farmer confidence is up – spending is slow.

“Yeah it’s been a great season, costs for some farm inputs are down while production is up, so whether or not it’s in dairy, beef, sheep prices, hort, they’re all doing nicely.

“So we’re certainly seeing improved farmer confidence, which is great to see and that will feed through to the economy but it’s still early days.”

Smith said there are pockets of retail and pockets of other industries that are doing really well.

“So some of those areas are construction, retail and car sales, they are doing really well. Others are still saying it’s tighter, but they’re beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

When Fonterra’s farmer-shareholders are paid out for the sale of the company’s consumer brands arm – businesses are expecting an uptick in spending, she said.

“We’re anticipating that there will be an increase in expenditure, obviously a number of them will retire debt, but we are anticipating that they’ll upgrade farm equipment, invest in new machinery and other off-farm assets. So that is coming. It’s just taking a little bit of time to feed through. And I think that’s just the reality of people being cautious. You know, there’s been a few tough years. So people are sensibly cautious and investing carefully.”

Head of agribusiness at financial advisory firm Findex, Hayden Dillon, said farmers are in a good position and the momentum is flowing through to service towns and the industries that back agriculture.

Speaking at the recent Southern Fieldays, he said our $80 billion export engine is helping kick-start regional economies that have been sluggish.

“It was highlighted at Fieldays that the highest unemployment rate is in Auckland and the lowest is in Southland. That is a clear example of an export-led recovery.

“We know New Zealand’s productivity record is not flash overall. But that is not the case on farms in Southland and other rural regions. Here, business owners are leading the recovery through exports, bringing in hard foreign currency and building real value in the regions.”

While that is undoubtedly positive, Dillon said good governance and caution still matter.

“We often say farmers are good in a drought and poor in a flush, but microeconomics means staying on top of costs, not taking your eye off the ball, and consistently pushing your service providers, whether that is interest rates or fertiliser pricing. It means making disciplined calls on capital expenditure, thinking carefully about expansion, and using the upside to build long-term legacy and succession plans.”

It also means keeping the same frugal habits that see you through the lean years.

He said farmers shouldn’t let costs creep, manage payroll and people well, shop your interest rates when rolling debt, maximise profits while you can, because the next tight season is never far away.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/24/farmers-being-cautious-with-profits/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The discovery of a Queensland fruit fly in Auckland presents a huge threat to growers and exporters, a horticulture sector advocate says.

A biosecurity operation is underway after the pest, which damages fruit and vegetables, was identified in a surveillance trap in the suburb of Mount Roskill on Wednesday morning.

Horticulture chief executive Kate Scott said while the fly did not pose a health risk to humans, an outbreak would have a significant economic cost.

“The horticulture sector is naturally concerned about the impacts of a new pest being established here and the impact that could have on our ability to produce a wide range of fruit and vegetables.

“The Queensland fly likes to call more than 200 fruit and vegetables home. That could have a massive impact on the quality of our fruit and vegetable crops.”

She warned the country would not be able to export to key markets if the pest took hold here.

But she was confident in New Zealand’s track record of eradicating harmful fruit flies.

“We certainly support the ramping up of trapping and inspections and the movement control areas that are to be implemented.

“We’ve certainly seen last year and in other previous instances where a quick and immediate response is rolled out, that we have been able to successfully contain any threat.”

Biosecurity staff were expected to be on the ground in Mount Roskill over the coming days.

“As part of our response protocol over the next 72 hours, we will be ramping up trapping and inspection, with daily checks in a 200-metre zone from the original find and checks every three days in a second zone out to 1500m,” Biosecurity New Zealand’s Mike Inglis said.

“You may notice increased activity in the neighbourhood as we go about inspections and trapping. Our field officers may ask to look at fruit trees on your property. They will always show you a form of official identification and will only enter your property with your permission.”

Instructions about restrictions in the affected area were expected to be made clear on Thursday.

In the meantime, Biosecurity asked Mount Roskill residents not to take whole fresh fruit and vegetables out of their property.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/24/queensland-fruit-fly-could-have-massive-impact-on-fruit-and-vegetable-crops-2/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A massive Hawke’s Bay water storage project is one step closer, with geotechnical work having started as part of a feasibility study.

Investigations into the proposed Heretaunga Water Storage Facility, a 27 million cubic metre dam on private land near Whanawhana, near Hastings, have started to address its economic, technical, cultural and environmental viability.

The site would harvest peak water flows from within the catchment and the Ngaruroro River in winter and store the water for release into Heretaunga’s rivers and streams during periods of peak summer demand.

In 2023, an initial pre-feasibility study was completed by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council with support from Kānoa – the Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit, which has also funded the next step.

A local group of irrigators, commercial water users, mana whenua and municipal water suppliers took over the project late last year in November, forming a new company – Heretaunga Water Storage Limited – to oversee the feasibility study.

Interim chairperson and Hawke’s Bay grower Xan Harding said it would have two implications for the region.

“The dam itself, the project if it goes ahead, part of that water will be offsetting the existing environmental effects of existing activity and part of it will be available for new water.

“It’s improving existing environmental outcomes and it’s providing room for growth.”

Harding said investigations would also enable comparison with other water security options for the region.

“Hawke’s Bay is a water short region so we know through a combination of measures we need to deliver long term water security for the Heretaunga Plains.

“We need to pull all kinds of levers on both the supply and the demand side of the water equation to get there and water storage is part of that.”

Harding said while the focus of the group was on the feasibility of water storage for the region, that wasn’t to say other efforts like water use efficiency were not important.

He said there were no guarantee the Heretaunga Water Storage Facility project – previously estimated to be a $225 million build – would go ahead but it had the potential to deliver longterm certainty for growers, commercial water users and the Hawke’s Bay community.

“The feasibility assessment is a critical next step and in depth geotechnical and ecological work to support the feasibility assessment is well underway at site,” Harding said.

“We will continue through the feasibility assessment with a view to having this completed around the third quarter of this year, at which point we will make decisions around resource consenting.”

A key part of the Heretaunga Water Storage Facility proposal is that its development would be funded by those who benefit most from the water storage in a user-pays model.

It differs from that of the controversial Ruataniwha Dam proposal – rebranded as the Tukituki Water Security Project – which would see a dam built on the Makaroro River, a tributary of the Tukituki River.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/24/hawkes-bay-water-storage-project-a-step-closer/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rural services company PGG Wrightson (PGW) increased its half-year profit on the back of increased sales to a buoyant agricultural sector and farm exports.

Key numbers for the six months ended December compared with a year ago:

• Net profit $17.3m vs $16.0m
• Revenue $619.4m vs $570.3m
• Operating earnings $46m vs $41m
• Full year operating earnings guidance $64m
• Interim dividend 4.5 cents per share vs 2.5 cps

The big driver of the company’s higher profit was the performance of its retail and water division, which covered sales to farms, orchards, and irrigation, which delivered 85 percent of group revenue.

PGW chairperson John Nichol said the company had seen growth through most parts of the rural sector, particularly in red meat, kiwifruit and apples, while improved earnings for farms flowed through to demand for other rural goods and services.

“The first half was characterised by favourable commodity pricing across a number of key segments for PGW’s customers.

“Improved on-farm profitability translated into demand for PGW’s livestock services, pasture renewal, agronomy, and animal health.”

Nichol said the company had also benefited from its diversification through the acquisition of an animal health products company, the launch of a range of agricultural chemicals, and the leasing of a research station in Hawke’s Bay.

The company’s agency group, which handled livestock sales, wool, and real estate sales, also reported stronger earnings as higher livestock, wool, and rural land prices increased demand.

The two sectors under pressure were wine and cropping with subdued demand weighing on sentiment and investment decisions.

Nichol said the second half of the year was expected to remain strong as the first with the broad rural sector set to continue strongly helped by high commodity prices, a soft currency, lower interest rates, and steady profits .

“Overall conditions across agriculture remain favourable, with most parts of the sector performing well, supported by firm global demand and strong commodity pricing.”

The company has forecast full year operating earnings of around $64m.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/24/pgg-wrightson-increases-half-year-profit-on-back-of-increased-sales/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Teenage farmers are getting put through their paces in a new scheme helping youngsters enter the industry.

Government-owned company Pāmu has 19 apprentices learning the ropes at its farms, which many will go on to work for.

After experiencing dairying and livestock, the apprentices – who are already well into their work – can specialise in their chosen field.

Five of this year’s apprentice intake are at Rangitāiki Station, about 40 minutes southeast of Taupō, ready to start their day when RNZ turns up.

Sixteen-year-old Tori Cheetham has just moved from Gisborne, and 17-year-old Ryan Sayers has come from Hamilton.

“I moved in on 10 January and we started on the 12th. It’s pretty cool. It’s such a cool experience being able to learn the different trades of it – doing the dairy and the livestock,” Cheetham said.

“I’ve done a bit of both. I’m interested in the dairy aspect but also I’m beginning to like the dry stock, but beef more than the sheep,” Sayers said.

In a shed, the apprentices are killing sheep and preparing them for dog tucker, as practice for getting the cuts right for human consumption.

It is just their third time doing this, but apprentice scheme manager Gary Brady said they were already getting a handle on something they were likely to do a lot as junior shepherds.

“They’ll get a shed full of sheep and they’re told that’s your job for the day, and they’re dog tuckers, so it’s important they learn these basics.”

Brady said once they fully knew what they were doing, it should take about 30 minutes a sheep.

Alex Iremonger, 18, from Whakatane, worked quickly through his first sheep.

“We’ve just been doing some dog tuckers, so some not-as-well-off sheep – we captive bolt them, pull them out, cut the throat and then proceed to break them down from the shins to brisket.

“Then we take the skin off, open them up – that’s basically the finished product.”

Iremonger said he did not have much of a farming background, apart from working for a few months on a dairy farm.

But now he had chosen it as his career, he wanted to one day be a farm manager, and he said he had learnt plenty in his first few weeks as an apprentice.

“We’ve learnt to crutch, do dog tuckers, muttons, drench, give animals shots, just learned animal stockmanship, how to treat animals in the yards, how to move and shift animals.

“Also, we’re just learning a lot of people skills, how to budget, how to finance, how to deal with other people.”

The apprentices’ efforts impressed Brady.

“Ewes are a little bit tough, but they’re really good to learn on. If you can get the pattern and get everything tidy on these then the house meats come out really good.

“You can see a bit of wool and stuff on the leg there,” he said, pointing to one of the sheep carcasses.

“It doesn’t matter so much with these. I’ve never had a dog say, ‘I’m not eating that.’ It’s good learning.”

There was high interest in the scheme, with more than 100 applicants for the 10 places this year, he said.

After a three-week induction, the first years are then straight into work training, each getting a chance to look at dairying and livestock farming. Second and third years get to work in their areas of specialisation on Pāmu farms.

While the first years continue with their dog tucker, Taiwhakaea Osborne is hard at work loading bulls on to a stock truck.

He also gets to work with and train farm dogs – which he calls using Te Reo Māori, Osborne’s first language.

The second-year apprentice is working at Rangitāiki Station while still studying for his industry qualification.

“This year I’m focusing more on the feed allocation for stock. I’m currently working in the bull unit. It’s a 375-hectare block. In the summertime we’ve got about 1000 to 1200 bulls on farm.

“In that time I’m learning feed allocation and animal welfare and animal health.”

The 19-year-old, from Whakatane, also wants to be a farm manager.

When he speaks to RNZ, he’s fresh of an encounter with an angry animal.

“I noticed a bull that wasn’t moving so I decided to try to use my bike to give it a helping hand. It did not like that.

“It charged at me. I thought maybe that was a one-time thing, so I tried it again. He chased me.

“I though this is an unsafe situation for me and my bike, so I left it in the paddock.”

Osborne said that was all part of the learning.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/23/new-teen-farmers-get-a-shedful-of-sheep-to-learn-the-ropes/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Just as he turns industrial waste back into good stuff for the earth, Matt Welton himself has come full circle.

The former prison officer and cartographer spent his first years out of school working in the scrap metal trade in London’s East End.

“Quite a lot of pressure on a young fella, going out knocking on doors to all these little scrap dealers and rag and bone men and whatever, with names like Jimmy Jighand and Pete Sparrowhawk.

“A good grounding, anyway, in how they sort of made a living out of nothing.”

Decades on from the early ’80s, he spends much of his time recycling waste and feeding it into a kiln in the heart of the rugged Akatarawa Valley, north of Wellington city.

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Welton collects the hops sludge left over from beer-making at Panhead Brewery in Upper Hutt, used wood pallets and forestry slash from his property to use as feedstock for the kiln, producing biochar.

Biochar is not unlike charcoal and is made from any sort of organic waste, and proponents say it improves the soil by helping it retain water and nutrients, sequestering carbon at the same time.

Welton has also partnered with the sustainability-focused fashion brand Kowtow, turning fabric from the cutting room floor into biochar, dubbed “black gold” by its devotees.

“[Kowtow] were looking at an alternative way of using their cutting room offcuts, rather than sending it to landfill, and so I said, ‘yeah, I’ll give it a go, we’ll try and make some biochar out of it’. It’s pure cotton. As long as it’s pure we should be able to turn it into char.”

He tests the char – produced via a technique known as pyrolysis – for impurities. Anything synthetic like elastic waistbands are a “no-no”, he said, as it can lead to higher readings of toxic elements like arsenic.

Welton took Country Life on a tour of his “biochar central”, a yard tucked into the side of a hill on his land, once covered in pine trees, which he is regenerating with wife Debbie into tracks and paddocks.

The couple has also placed 30 hectares of their block under a QEII Trust Covenant to protect the remaining native forest which escaped logging last century.

The Akatarawa Valley was a hive of sawmills and logging tracks up until the 1960s and remnants of the industry can be seen on Welton’s property.

They harvested the last of the pines when they arrived but mountains of slash were left behind by the foresters.

“They’ve taken the lengths they want, and then they just biff the rest over the side.”

The forest waste sowed an idea to turn it into something useful, and Welton’s venture Biochar Carbon Options developed from there. He now sells the crumbly mix, charged with brews of seaweed and horse manure, and sells it to growers and farmers.

Welton said he’s had several “Heath Robinson” moments developing the process, including happening on the idea of petanque balls – their heaviness good for pulverising the lumpy pyrolised waste in an old concrete mixer – so that the biochar is the right consistency for sprinkling on the earth.

“It’s a bit of a number 8 wire system, but it works.”

Welton can see the potential for such a system at landfill sites, taking all the green waste, as well as at forestry blocks.

“You could have mobile plants going up to forestry sites and converting [slash] into char, following the crews around. If you could talk to the crews and say, rather than throwing the waste to the left, can you throw it to the right, and then we can deal with it there.

“There’s so many different ways of utilising the product and utilising the waste, and, you know, getting involved with those communities that I just think it’s a no brainer, really.”

Learn more:

• Discover scientific research on biochar here

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/20/country-life-turning-brewery-gunk-and-forest-junk-into-something-good-for-the-soil/

Source: Radio New Zealand

From the highlands of Scotland to the hills surrounding Gore in Southland, Mary McRae’s legacy of distilling lives on at the Hokonui Moonshine Museum and Distillery.

Arriving on New Zealand shores in the 1870s, along with her seven children, the widowed McRae brought with her a beautiful little petite whisky still which had been passed down to her.

And so, trained in the art of distilling by her mother and grandmother before her, the healer and midwife brought the tradition of Highland Scottish whisky making to rural Southland.

“She also continued in the tradition of not paying excise on the sale of any of that product,” explained the museum’s curator Jim Geddes, adding that the McRae family refused to pay excise tax in Scotland on moral and political grounds.

Making the spirit was part of their culture, they believed, and used for medicinal purposes and family celebrations.

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The McRae’s whisky, distilled in the rugged Hokonui hills was considered a “very high-quality spirit”, Geddes told Country Life on a tour of the museum.

Hers was in “stark contrast to the adulterated spirit” that importers were sending to Southland – this was the “real deal”.

Townsfolk had grown tired of the poor behaviour stemming from local imbibers, who Geddes described as “hard-working” and “hard-drinking”.

But the McCraes had a more measured approach.

“The McCraes had always had a policy of not putting their product into a home where it would do any harm. So they pretty much minded their own business and they were able to do that in the shadow of the Hokonui Hills.”

But like other whisky makers and producers of “moonshine” – a lesser quality spirit – the McRaes would be caught up in the temperance movement which swept through much of the region and eventually saw Gore become a ‘dry’ district where the sale of alcohol was prohibited.

“From the 1st of July 1903, the Mataura licensing district was dry and it stayed dry for 51 years.”

Despite the closure of the 15 hotels in the licensing district, demand for alcohol remained high, giving way to a number of illicit moonshine-makers capitalising on the now lucrative tradition of distilling.

The booming trade also gave rise to police and customs officials determined to put a stop to it.

“Hokonui was always high quality spirit, strongly connected with the McRae clan. Hokonui moonshine was something else. It was a grain spirit, straight out of the still and gone.”

The Prohibition era led to over 30 prosecutions, the last of which was in 1957.

In nearly all of them there was a McRae link, Geddes said, and often a tenuous one.

The tradition still lives on today – now legally – with a modern distillery built in 2020 alongside the museum.

“Working with Bill “W.D.” Stuart, the great-grandson of Mary McRae, we were able to source a family recipe,” Geddes said.

With guidance from others in New Zealand’s burgeoning spirit industry – now worth $40 to $50 million in exports, the distillery functions in a non-profit capacity.

“The spirit that we make is from grain which is grown in the area. So we have engaged with families who have been farming here for generations. All the ingredients are local. The recipe is local.”

Learn more:

• Find out more about the Hokonui Moonshine Museum and Distillery in Gore here

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/20/country-life-southlands-history-of-scottish-whisky/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Anisha Satya for Country Life

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It’s what’s underneath that matters at the Underground Festival.

The soil, how we treat it, and who it feeds were key focuses at the two-day educational retreat, held in the middle of a vineyard in Waipara.

Fran Bailey is the mind behind New Zealand’s “festival for farmers,” which draws heavy inspiration from her time at the Groundswell Festival in England.

“It’s a regenerative agriculture festival [run] over two days on a no-till arable farm. And, yeah, they get about 8000 farmers there.”

Regenerative agriculture – building resilient farm systems by doing things like restoring nutrient-depleted soil – has gained ground amongst Kiwi farmers in recent years.

So why not bring the Groundswell Festival to New Zealand, too?

Bailey was raised on a Tokoroa dairy farm until the age of six.

“I didn’t have anything to do with farming after that, when mum and dad sold the farm in the late ’80s.”

But she found her way back to farming while working in the UK.

“I ended up working at a regenerative farming podcast, and went to a regenerative farming conference,” she says.

“These farmers stood up and went ‘I’m an environmentalist too!’, and they were so passionate about biodiversity.”

The conference lit a fire under her to share environment-conscious farming stories, which she felt were underrepresented in media.

“I just thought, ‘farmers care about the land, and not enough people know about this’.

“I sort of put a stake in the ground to help tell their stories.”

Bailey spent three years managing public relations for Groundswell, before coming back to New Zealand and trying the concept out locally.

The Underground Festival 2026 is the first official event, and saw hundreds of people make their way to Greystone Wines’ vineyard over the two days.

“The farmers here, they vary from 500 hectare-plus sheep and beef stations, down to small market gardeners.

“We’re all coming together around an interest in soil health, and fertility, and how we can improve our soils to therefore improve the health of our plants.”

Given the success of this year’s event, Bailey’s mind has already turned to next year.

“Farmers are the salt of the earth; they are wonderful people, very practical, and I just want to help them tell their stories, connect, and keep making good progress.”

Learn more:

• Find out more about the Underground Festival here

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/20/country-life-into-the-weeds-and-under-the-soil-at-the-underground-festival/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Warning: The following story contains an image that may disturb some viewers.

A Northland farmer says more than 250 of his family’s sheep have been killed by roaming dogs, and he’s thinking of quitting sheep farming if the killing can’t be stopped.

His call for action comes in the same week a woman was mauled to death by a pack of dogs in Kaihu.

Finn Cook is the fourth generation of his family to farm near Kaeo in the Far North.

He said roaming dogs had always been a bit of a nuisance for their stock, but towards the end of last year, the problem got out of hand as hundreds of their sheep were attacked and killed.

“It’s pretty disgusting to walk out there and see sheep half chewed on, still alive, can’t move on the ground. Especially in the heat with the flies and stuff.”

Cook said his uncle had already had to give up on sheep farming because of wild dogs, and if Cook couldn’t find a solution, his family would have to do the same.

“We’re at a dead end. We don’t know what to do. We don’t know what support there is for us as farmers because the laws aren’t in anyone’s favour here.”

He has tried taking matters into his own hands and shooting the dogs but he said it didn’t make a difference.

“They just keep coming. The dog owners need to hold themselves accountable, they don’t post up that they’ve got missing dogs either. Because I’m sure they know their dog’s been up to no good.”

He also tried contacting dog control at the council, but said it was hard to get any action from them.

“You’ve basically got to visually sight the dog all the way home, prove where it’s living and then also prove that it’s been killing your sheep… for them to actually do anything about it.”

But Far North District Council’s delivery and operations manager Hillary Sumpter said in a statement that the council only had records of one complaint from Cook.

“If we gave Mr Cook the impression that the council would only act when it had video evidence, then I apologise – that is not the case,” Sumpter said.

The council needed good eyewitness accounts or other evidence linking a dog to an attack which would stand up in court, she said.

“Setting dog traps and focusing our patrols on problem areas are methods we use to gather evidence. It is not possible to monitor a property 24 hours a day.”

Whangarei woman Tracy Clarke also knows about the problems roaming dogs can cause – she has been afraid to even walk down her street since she narrowly escaped a pitbull coming after her.

“It’s only just a few metres away, and I knew that I was in bloody big strife to be fair. Within a split second, I just heard a woman scream at me to get in and she parked up beside me – it was actually a local courier.”

After that ordeal, Clarke delivered a petition to parliament, calling for the rules around dog control to be changed.

“The current legislation governing dog ownership and control came into force in 1996. I know that sounds just like yesterday but in actual fact, it was all written 30 years ago. Clearly, it’s no longer befitting.”

Cook agreed there needed to be law changes, but said the owners needed to take some responsibility.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/20/northland-farmer-has-hundreds-of-sheep-killed-by-roaming-dogs/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The multi-billion-dollar sale of dairy co-operative Fonterra’s consumer brands business is one step closer, as shareholders overwhelmingly approve another regulatory hurdle to the international deal.

More than 98 percent of the co-op’s 8000 shareholders voted in favour of the capital return scheme resulting from the divestment of Mainland Group, at a special meeting this morning.

In October, shareholders approved the proposal to sell the consumer brands business – behind well-known brands like Anchor, Kāpiti, Perfect Italiano and Fresh’n Fruity – to French dairy giant Lactalis.

This week’s vote was one of the various approvals needed for the international transaction of $4.22 billion to be completed, with more to go.

Shareholders would receive $3.2 billion once the sale was complete in one lump sum, while up to $1 billion would go back into the co-op.

Board chairman Peter McBride said in the meeting that the sale process was progressing, before an expected completion by the end of next month.

“Your co-op has been working to deliver the proposed capital return as quickly as possible,” he said.

“We are targeting a tax-free capital return of $2 per share to shareholders and unit holders, equivalent to around $3.2 billion, once the sale is complete.”

McBride said shareholders did not have to do anything to prepare, as the co-op would ensure their shares ahead of the deal remained unchanged.

“Subject to approval by shareholders, settlement of the transaction and receipt of final court orders, the co-op continues to expect the transaction to be complete in the first quarter of this calendar year.

“That is, by 31 March 2026,” he said.

A co-op spokesperson said it planned to invest up to $1 billion it would get from the sale into value-add projects across ingredients and foodservice, including the butter factory expansion at Clandeboye.

Fonterra co-operative chair and Wairarapa cocky John Stevenson said farmers would likely bank their dividends and pay down debt with the cash injection.

He said farmers will also keep a close eye on how Fonterra executes its new strategy as a global dairy ingredients supplier.

“I’m not surprised, I think the original vote on whether to divest or not was certainly the one where farmers put significant effort into understanding the proposal in front of them,” he said.

“Whilst an important part of the process is essentially in farmers’ minds re-confirming that they’re happy with the outcome of that in terms of the capital return and happy for Fonterra to continue in that direction.”

The payment would result in a lump sum payment for shareholders after the subdivision.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/19/majority-of-fonterra-shareholders-vote-in-favour-of-mainland-payout-scheme/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rural contractors say new road rules for agricultural machinery are nowhere to be seen, and in the meantime contractors are still being stung with fines.

To operate tractors or heavy machinery like harvesters on roads, drivers must get a permit. But the rules are “outdated” and not keeping up with new technology, critics say.

Rural Contractors NZ chief executive Andrew Olsen said often new machinery and tractors being imported were already overweight and oversized.

“They arrive and contractors already can’t drive them on roads – that’s before they’ve even added tools or equipment to the back.”

Last year the government said it would address the issue.

The Ministry of Transport said it was working on a range of reforms to land transport rules for heavy vehicles – but the timing for new rules for agricultural vehicles was not clear.

“The review of weight limits is a longer-term piece of work to review the vehicle dimension and mass (VDAM) rule,” Olsen said.

“This rule sets out the maximum permitted weight, width and length for vehicles operated on New Zealand’s roads – including heavy agricultural vehicles. We recognise that the VDAM rule has not kept pace with developments in the industry, such as performance improvements in modern vehicles.”

Because this work required significant research and analysis, the timing of any changes had not yet been confirmed, a ministry spokesperson said.

Olsen said that was frustrating, and feared changes could be years away.

“We believe this should be a priority – it’s about managing those oversized vehicles on the road and determining not that they are safe, but that they are roadworthy and able to meet the standard without needing to necessarily add a whole lot of complexity around obtaining a piece of paper to do so.

“This is a productivity issue. It’s very complicated to get an overweight permit – there’s a few ways to do it, but none of them are simple.”

Olsen respected it would not be a straightforward or quick process to develop new rules, but he just wanted them to get underway.

“We don’t have a lot of time because these machines are on the road now, and we need to find a common sense and pragmatic solution to this sooner rather than later. “

He said since the government signalled change, fines issued had reduced – but he was not sure if that was because regulators were being more lenient or if contractors were working harder to get permits.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/18/contractors-want-the-government-to-hurry-up-with-new-road-rules-for-agricultural-machinery/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Livestock farmers are being urged to keep their animals well fed and circulated to avoid the spread of moisture-loving parasites.

Downpours and gusts that lashed the country in recent weeks have left farmers grappling with paddocks turned to lakes, keeping stock fed and dry, and navigating cut-off tracks, roads and bridges.

Heavy rainfall and warm conditions created an optimal habitat for parasites like worms and their larvae to spread in pasture.

Wormwise manager Ginny Dodunski said the worm larvae animals ate when they were grazing lived in droplets of water.

“[The larvae] are pretty good at clinging onto the grass blades, so unless you’ve actually had land move down a hill or you heaps of water flowing through your property, they’re still going to be there.”

Dodunski said sheep and cattle were subject to different worm species, but all would thrive in pasture during wet and warm conditions.

“The conditions that we’ve got at the moment definitely favour larvae survival,” she said.

“So we’ve got to get around that with really good feeding and then thinking about how we can use our different stock classes on our farms to clean up behind each other.”

She said stock rotation and grazing management were key to preventing further spread.

“One of the worst things we could do now with our lambs and calves is have them just going round and round and round their same little area on the farm, because they will pick up lots of larvae and because they’re young, they will put out a lot more worms themselves, so they create these hotspots for themselves.”

Dodunksi said farmers could capitalise on good lamb prices and focus more on fattening up the ewes, to buffer any pasture production knocks that might come with pests and diseases this summer.

“Get rid of your lambs, get the weight back on the ewes, and get yourself set up for next year, because some of these other pests and diseases might knock some pasture production around later on. So having ewes in good condition now is going to be a bit of a buffer for some of that as well.”

She said fortunately most sheep were already shorn by now which helped prevent flystrike in summer months.

She also urged farmers to monitor for any sudden deaths and consider spore and faecal counts.

Furthermore, Beef and Lamb said farmers were reporting a proliferation of these pests and diseases, as well as facial eczema and porina.

Earth Sciences New Zealand maps showed wet soils were especially pronounced on the East Coast, Bay of Plenty and pockets of South Waikato, Manawatū and Kaikōura as of Monday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/18/how-to-avoid-moisture-loving-parasites-in-livestock-following-storms/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rural contractors say new road rules for agricultural machinery are nowhere to be seen, and in the meantime contractors are still being stung with fines.

To operate tractors or heavy machinery like harvesters on roads, drivers must get a permit. But the rules are “outdated” and not keeping up with new technology, critics say.

Rural Contractors NZ president Andrew Olsen said often new machinery and tractors being imported were already overweight and oversized.

“They arrive and contractors already can’t drive them on roads – that’s before they’ve even added tools or equipment to the back.”

Last year the government said it would address the issue.

The Ministry of Transport said it was working on a range of reforms to land transport rules for heavy vehicles – but the timing for new rules for agricultural vehicles was not clear.

“The review of weight limits is a longer-term piece of work to review the vehicle dimension and mass (VDAM) rule,” Olsen said.

“This rule sets out the maximum permitted weight, width and length for vehicles operated on New Zealand’s roads – including heavy agricultural vehicles. We recognise that the VDAM rule has not kept pace with developments in the industry, such as performance improvements in modern vehicles.”

Because this work required significant research and analysis, the timing of any changes had not yet been confirmed, a ministry spokesperson said.

Olsen said that was frustrating, and feared changes could be years away.

“We believe this should be a priority – it’s about managing those oversized vehicles on the road and determining not that they are safe, but that they are roadworthy and able to meet the standard without needing to necessarily add a whole lot of complexity around obtaining a piece of paper to do so.

“This is a productivity issue. It’s very complicated to get an overweight permit – there’s a few ways to do it, but none of them are simple.”

Olsen respected it would not be a straightforward or quick process to develop new rules, but he just wanted them to get underway.

“We don’t have a lot of time because these machines are on the road now, and we need to find a common sense and pragmatic solution to this sooner rather than later. “

He said since the government signalled change, fines issued had reduced – but he was not sure if that was because regulators were being more lenient or if contractors were working harder to get permits.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/17/farmers-want-the-government-to-hurry-up-with-new-road-rules-for-agricultural-machinery/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Storms across the North Island have destroyed a Horowhenua grower’s large berry tunnels, but power to the milking shed has since returned.

Severe weather over the weekend thrust five North Island districts into states of emergency; Manawatū, Rangitīkei, Tararua, Waipā and Ōtorohanga.

At Lewis Farms near Levin, strong gusts smashed 100m long berry tunnels, ripping off roofs and twisting steel.

Milk collection was scheduled for late Tuesday once downed trees were cleared from the farm’s tanker tracks and roads.

Owner and managing director of the family business, Cam Lewis, said the team was safe which was the main thing, but there was significant damage to the farm.

“The farms are a bit of a mess at the moment,” he said.

“Worst for us is the strawberries. So our tunnel houses and the crop itself have been particularly hard hit by the wind.”

Lewis said while many of the tunnels were still standing, he estimated about two of the seven hectares the tunnels covered had sustained damage.

“We feel we’re pretty geared up for handling wind, but unfortunately this time around, it came in a completely different direction to what the farm’s built to handle and to what we would normally expect.

“So lots and lots of tunnel houses with roofs gone and twisted steel and heaps of our plants lying on the ground, which isn’t ideal.”

As well as growing berries and asparagus, the farm had just under 900 dairy cows across two sites.

Power to the milking sheds was still out by Monday afternoon, when Lewis said he expected the outage to end soon.

“I think there’s a bit over 400 girls sitting out there at the moment wondering why they haven’t been milked this morning.”

Power returned to the shed by Monday evening, so the cows were “very relieved”, he said.

It was the second power outage at the farm since Christmas.

Lewis said it was time to think about adding a generator to the fleet.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/17/storms-destroy-horowhenua-growers-long-berry-tunnels/