Farming

Every winter, the Woodham Shield brings together remote South Westland communities for a fiercely contested grassroots rugby battle steeped in pride and tradition.

For the past year, Country Life has been watching Wairarapa dog triallist Chris Shaw train up his latest working dog, Miley - a young Huntaway that's got that "X-factor".

New Zealand shoppers are getting good prices for new season avocados, as harvest volumes balance out after a record year last year.

Low product prices have prompted desperate calls for New Zealand farmers, mills and shoppers to take up local grain.

The changes will save thousands of farmers from having to lodge resource consents to discharge pollutants into waterways, but critics say councils should be in charge.

Anthea Rolfe started the Females in Farming social media page a year ago and said it just exploded.

Tasman district farmers hit by recent floods are trying to piece their riverside farms back together, after losing land, livestock, bridges and key fencing infrastructure.

As new technologies see the horticulture sector become increasingly automated, its post-harvest workforce will need to develop new skills.

Stephen Newman has gone from IT to conventional farming to becoming a devotee of the regenerative farming movement.

The gloom and wet of winter is especially challenging for Southland's farms where pasture can go for nearly a third of the year without growth.

Many scientists say the effective near 30-year ban on the use of gene technologies has held them back from progress.