Skills

Tiny club 20km from Amberley dominates short head and yard final.

Hawke’s Bay farmer and Jude triumph at Sheep Dog Trial Championships.

We need to look at food production through younger eyes and embrace the technologies that will help us evolve, writes Bryan Gibson.

Beef + Lamb Young Ambassador Chef for 2023 crowned.

At 77 years young, the Ōmarama man is ready to continue his record of excelling at the sport – just don’t ask him to do so on the opening weekend of duck-hunting season.

Agri-Women’s Development Trust helps prepare, inspire and support young women in food and fibre sector.

It is the first time the ploughman has visited either country, despite representing NZ on the world stage more than a dozen of times.

NZ pay rates have improved recently to be on par with Australia’s, but it is always a battle to find and retain top staff in this country.

Hawke’s Bay farmer Carmen Smith to oversee woolshed training needs.

An experienced farm manager is determined to be part of the solution for training new entrants to dairy.

There are four great course offerings, to allow you to choose what is best suited to your current need.

Team of four trainers with dairy experience bolster Ag Drive offering.

Goss, Skiffington make history in tribute to famed mum.

An anticipated return to normal global supply chains looks unlikely in the near-term due to port congestion in Europe from uncleared containers caught up in trade sanctions against Russia.

Richard McIntyre: Federated Farmers dairy vice-chairperson Richard McIntyre says prospective contract milkers should take the time to find…

Finding staff is getting difficult but farmers could implement strategies to attract and retain people to the dairy industry.

Financial skills workshops being run around the country by Rabobank aim to provide farmers with practical knowledge to help them better understand financial statements and banking requirements.

Primary sector groups are welcoming an extra 1580 international workers being allowed into the country by the Government.

A webinar will give farmers insights into how they can attract and retain farm staff in the difficult labour market.

The arrival of covid has disrupted businesses all over the world and left the agricultural industry short-staffed.

The kiwifruit sector is exploring new avenues for employing overseas staff as harvest season starts to reach full swing.

The first of about 60 trained meat workers from Pacific Islands have arrived to start work at plants operated by Silver Fern Farms (SFF).

Moving animals off-farm and prioritising animal welfare is the focus for deer farmers, as venison processors struggle with capacity.

Some primary sector processors have access to only half their usual workforce due to staff infected with Omicron or isolating because they are a close contact.

Hard-won concessions on immigration policy could see dairy farming ranks bolstered by upwards of 1000, when migrant spouses are reunited with their husbands in the coming months.

Fostering talent, shifting mindsets and addressing sustainability are keys to the future success of New Zealand’s food and fibres sector, according to new Agmardt research.

The Government’s decision to allow 300 more international dairy farm workers into New Zealand will not resolve the sector’s chronic staffing shortages, DairyNZ says.

Staff-short regional industries are unlikely to benefit from the Government’s soon to be announced immigration rebalance.

Just a handful of foreign dairy farm workers and agricultural machinery operators have been granted access following Government changes to the class exception policy approved in December.

Farmers already facing up to six weeks delay getting stock killed are being warned to prepare for a longer than usual season as the meat industry continues to struggle with staffing shortages.

The prospect of autonomous robotic tractors has long been a lure for growers and farmers, often pushed beyond the bounds of reality by cost and existing technology. But a Blenheim company has been quietly building a fleet of automated machines that are proving their worth with one of the region’s largest winegrowers.

The Government’s gradual opening of New Zealand borders is too late for worker-short primary sector employers seeking an injection of foreign workers for the harvest season.

Primary sector officials are scrambling to ensure critical worker status is granted to staff and with it access to rapid antigen tests (RATs), after initial guidelines sowed doubt.

Farming leaders have contacted the dairy industry to see whether its milk tanker drivers can switch to operating combines and tractors as a solution to the dire shortage of drivers the contracting industry is facing.

Hawke's Bay orchardist Mark Vesty appreciates more than most the human impact the Tongan eruption has taken upon the nation’s people.

Immigration minister Kris Faafoi has missed two key deadlines for the government’s long signalled immigration ‘reset’.