Building a profitable farming business has never been simple.

Ruralco CEO Tony Aitken has been awarded excellence in business leadership at the recent ANZ Business of the Year Awards in Ashburton.

The vegetable industry is reshaping how it represents itself, with a new structure designed to bring growers together under one banner while keeping existing product groups intact.

Harraways is backing the future of oat processing in the lower South Island with a major, multi-year investment programme to lift capacity, improve efficiency and keep its Dunedin mill competitive for decades to come.

Good news for lower South Island dairy producers. Port Otago has announced a significant 35 year lease agreement with Fonterra for its dairy export warehouse in Port Chalmers.

Three new grower directors have been appointed to the Foundation for Arable Research board. They are Edward White of central Hawkes Bay, Michael Tayler of South Canterbury and Hamish Irwin of Mid Canterbury.

New research funded by the Agricultural Emissions Centre shows reducing emissions from pastoral farming is possible but will require on-farm innovation and strong support to remain economically viable.

Lower South Island exporters and importers have a new weekly shipping option to and from Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Safer Farms chair Lindy Nelson says too many farmers and their families are still being hurt or killed while producing food and fibre, and she believes the sector must stop accepting preventable harm as a normal part of work.

Eastland Port in Gisborne is first in line for extra Government funding to bolster New Zealand’s coastal shipping network.

New Zealand Young Farmers has launched a new initiative designed to make it easier for employers to support their young team members by covering their NZ Young Farmers membership.

A new Arable Industry Code of Conduct will give New Zealand’s arable sector a clearer, more consistent way of doing business, helping strengthen relationships and confidence across the industry.

Rising demand for sustainable materials has seen Rubisco outgrow its hemp fibre processing site in Christchurch, to the point where it’s investing in a new purpose-built facility at Ashburton.

Mindhive Global, which got its start grading hides at Tasman Leather in Whanganui, is eyeing further market growth in Brazel and Europe after securing new funding led by agritech venture capital firm Cultivate Ventures, with strong participation from existing shareholders.

A new cross-sector body aims to deliver better long-term outcomes for the New Zealand strong wool industry, generating greater demand, lifting value and avoiding costly duplication.

PGG Wrightson has renewed its partnership with Land Search and Rescue New Zealand, sponsoring it for another three years.

The Kapuni gas to urea plant in Taranaki, operated by Ballance Agri-Nutrients, will continue operating until 31 December after short-term gas supply was secured in September.

Gallagher Animal Management has appointed senior insider Hamish Wiig as a non-executive director to the boards of Goodnature and Farmote Technologies.

Bremworth’s $6 million factory rebuild near Napier is a win not only for the company itself, but for the city and New Zealand manufacturing as a whole, says CEO Craig Woolford.

Business vehicle leasing specialist FleetPartners has launched a new calculator and car selector tool so business owners and fleet managers can browse, compare and view the estimated lease cost of hundreds of vehicles online.