Navigation for News Categories
Country
Featured Country stories
Farmers vote on the Fonterra brand sale today - what you need to know
Shareholders are set to vote on whether to sell the company's consumer arm, which includes well-known brands like Mainland and Anchor, to a French company.
-
What will farmers spend their $200,000 each on?
6:32 am todayAround 60 percent of shareholding farms could receive a windfall, if a Fonterra sale to a French dairy giant goes ahead.
-
'Where's the help?': Farmers count the cost of devastating storm
6:37 am todayOne week since a wind storm tore through the country's south, some Clutha district farmers say the financial hit could be harsher than they originally feared.
-
Most virtual farm fences re-connected after storms affect 70 sites - Halter
10:42 am todayBy Labour weekend, there were 70 South Island farms affected by disruptions to the virtual, fence-less systems for livestock, mostly in Canterbury, Southland…
Country headlines with summaries.
-
Irrigation equipment smashed by winds - 'A huge concern coming into the summer period'
More than 700 pivot spans - worth $30,000 each - have been damaged in North Canterbury.
-
Rural nurses target measles vaccination 'hesitancy'
29 Oct 2025Measles is so infectious, it requires an immunity rate of at least 95 percent in the community to prevent spread.
-
First responders worry about 'chainsaw cowboys' in aftermath
28 Oct 2025A local farmer believes it's a miracle no one was hurt, but he worries about injuries in the clean-up. Audio
-
Southland farmers exhausted as recovery from storm grinds on
27 Oct 2025Rural Support Trust says fatigue is setting in for storm-hit farmers still relying on generators, as efforts shift from animal welfare to human well-being.
-
Fonterra sale could inject $4.5b into economy
24 Oct 2025The dairy giant is hoping to sell its Anchor and Mainland brands to a French company, though the deal is far from set in stone. Audio
-
Clydesdales: 'He's not really a horse, he's a person'
27 Oct 2025Billy is quite the character and Cate Smith describes him as her mother's one true love.
-
Battling off-roaders and pests at Thornton Lagoon
25 Oct 2025Ben Banks is trying to protect the fragile dunes, wildlife and vegetation at a coastal lagoon near Whakatāne trapping for pests but there's another threat to the area - the four-wheeled kind.
-
'You're never very far away from rural life in New Zealand'
25 Oct 2025Husband and wife duo Te Radar and Ruth Spencer have recently partnered together on a new book 'Kiwi Country: Rural New Zealand in 100 Objects'.
-
Bikes, art and walking shoes all welcome on new Canterbury trail
25 Oct 2025Volunteers are nearing completion of the first leg of a new trail for walkers, runners and cyclists in South Canterbury.
-
This calf club for 'townies' has been running for four decades
24 Oct 2025At the club, the children learn about every aspect of their animal's life. Audio
-
'Chainsaws running red hot': Falling trees kill sheep, cut power
24 Oct 2025Despite the damage and livestock deaths, most farmers will just roll up their sleeves and do what needs to be done, a farming boss says.
-
Farmers keep milking despite ferocious wind storm
23 Oct 2025They are coping with power outages, road closures and damaging winds - with all eyes on rising rivers.
-
Lawyers fail in bid for weedkiller reassessment
23 Oct 2025However, they remain concerned about the risks posed by glyphosate-based products, the most commonly used herbicide in Aotearoa.
-
Time to consider controversial changes to pig welfare rules cut
22 Oct 2025Farrowing crates -which were used to prevent a sow crushing her piglets, but are so small a sow cannot turn around -were due to be banned at the end of this year under changes brought in by the…
-
Ikea owner buys up Northland forestry
21 Oct 2025Ingka Investments, the parent company of furniture giant Ikea, has bought 10,000 hectares of production forestry in Northland.
-
Alliance farmers vote yes on $270m deal with Irish meat company
21 Oct 2025Under the agreement, Dawn Meats will acquire a 65 percent stake in Alliance Group.
-
Ex-All Black legend's farm tipped to stay in beef production
A rural land agent has allayed fears a significant Hawke's Bay farm will be planted in pine trees.
-
Minister, mayor want answers after massive flooding in Waitomo
22 Oct 2025The mayor says the district was hit by "severe storms" and a red warning should have been issued. Audio
-
'Size of a ping-pong ball': World's largest blueberry to be grown in NZ
20 Oct 2025The Eterna blueberry, which can grow 'up to the size of a ping-pong ball', is being planted in Kerikeri and Waikato.
-
New kiwifruit orchard bought to fund Mormon church
20 Oct 2025The investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has purchased a new kiwifruit orchard in Bay of Plenty.
-
Barker's $60m factory expansion nearly complete
The iconic South Canterbury fruit company's factory expansion will come to fruition later this year, in efforts to "future-proof" the growing business.
-
Carving a business out of salvage timber from the Canterbury quakes
18 Oct 2025Ever wondered what happened to some of the damaged timber from the Lyttelton wharves after the Canterbury earthquakes?
-
Could kiwi be used on pest patrol in orchards and vineyards?
18 Oct 2025A recent study has filmed the rare and vulnerable birds entering vineyards and orchards at night to feast on beetles, weevils, grass grub and other insects.
-
Tech is key on this Tirau dairy farm
18 Oct 2025When it comes to farming, planning for the next season today is key for a fifth generation Waikato dairying family.
Top News stories
- 'Stay inside': Crews battle fire at old Palmerston North pub The Fitz
- What you need to know about the current measles outbreak
- Bullet holes and graffiti: Sign vandalism costing Department of Conservation over $500k a year
- New Nelson supermarket creates 60 jobs for a city hard hit by weather, employment woes
- Labour wants crackdown on 'cowboy' charter school bids amid Kelston Boys battle
