A new committee for Young Radicles has been established, operated by and for members aged 35 years and younger, and an associate councillor position on the organisation’s executive has been created for members in the same age group.

Dr Scott Champion has been appointed as the new chief executive of the Foundation for Arable Research, effective 1 July.

FAR board chair Steven Bierema says his skills are well matched to the developing needs of New Zealand’s arable industry and its growers.

Afimilk has appointed Waikato-based Justin Miller as its new general manager for New Zealand and Australia.

“The cow monitoring collar market has seen significant growth in recent years,” he says.

Penny Ranger from Waotu and Shamus Young from Tapanui are FMG’s agricultural scholarship winners for 2025.

The coveted Zanda McDonald Award has named its 2025 winners, recognising two exceptional young leaders from the trans-Tasman primary sector.

Australian Jack O’Connor and New Zealander Maegen Blom have taken out the top honours, marking a significant milestone for the award.

Words: Zoetis   

Autumn is a critical time to address parasite control in cattle. 
From spring through to autumn, young stock with low or no immunity are mass producers of parasite eggs which become infective larval stages, reaching a peak on pastures in autumn and early winter. 
Even if young stock do not graze on the dairy platform, there will still be better survival and likely higher numbers of parasites in autumn. 

A strategic partner and Ravensdown customer for more than a decade, Dairy Holdings utilises the full suite of Ravensdown’s offerings to support consistent improvements in on-farm performance.
Colin Glass, Dairy Holdings CEO, says a key to farming smarter is having an absolute view of all production inputs.
“Over the past five years alone, we have taken 6600 soil samples across Dairy Holding farms to be tested and analysed
by Ravensdown.

Gallagher and FarmIQ are simplifying data management for farmers with the launch of a powerful new integration that will help them harness the power of having all their data in one place. 
And that’s exactly what manager Bayden Andersen wants as he works to ramp up productivity, cashflow and economic farm surplus (EFS) for Canning Estate. 
Five years of intensification have laid the groundwork for every hectare to grow more kilograms of liveweight and meat. 

Ravensdown’s venture arm, Agnition, has launched a new online sales platform giving Kiwis more choice in how they purchase fertiliser and other agricultural products.

Farmers from across the country have jumped on board a unique programme designed to help them eliminate one of their most expensive and persistent weeds. 

Plasback continues to lead the charge in New Zealand’s agricultural recycling space, achieving a record-breaking milestone in 2024 with 6800 tonnes of farm plastics collected and diverted from burying or burning practices.

Words: Neil Waddingham, Bayer New Zealand  

Ryegrass is on the attack and time isn’t on our side. 

Seed supplier plays it cool

A big new facility in Hamilton is helping put premium grass seed on-farm faster this autumn, and in peak condition for sowing. 

Manawatu-based H&T Agronomics has teamed up with a Californian ag tech company to launch a new microbial seed treatment here this season. 

If you don’t plan before autumn sowing, things can go downhill fast.

Farmlands recently purchased the Winton feed mill site, demonstrating the co-op’s commitment to the Southland region and to becoming the number-one farmer-owned supplier of quality nutrition for New Zealand farmers.  

Wild oats can have a very significant impact on cereal grain yields. But so too can a common seed and grazing crop on many arable farms, namely ryegrass.

New grass bred for yield and animal health is helping one sheep and beef farm wean more lambs off mum in the drought-prone hills of southern Hawke’s Bay. 

Ballance Agri-Nutrients, in conjunction with Plucks Engineering and Southwater, is developing an innovative dairy effluent management system designed to help farmers improve on-farm effluent practices and reduce environmental impact.