News from the rural farming sector Despite a cold and wet spring in Canterbury, NIWA is now warning the region has become a hotspot on moisture deficit readings and that's likely to get worse over the next week. PlantTech Reasearch Institute Limited; a company which wanted to develop artificial intelligence for the horticulture sector has been put into liquidation. Processors have decreased slaughter prices for mutton and lamb and a market expert is warning prices will continue to fall in the months ahead.