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Innovation, Best Practice and Sustainability in New Zealand’s Primary Sector

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Floods create steep learning curve for Horizons district farmers

Sat 16 Sep 2006

The Manawatu-Wanganui region encompasses 8% of New Zealands land area. There are 6000 farms in the region, half of them on 1.3 million hectares of...
Sep 2006
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David Jupp - Waitara

Sat 16 Sep 2006

David Jupp has 261.4ha of mainly hill country land, with 217ha effective, divided into 62ha flat and rolling, 146ha medium hill and 9ha steep hill....
Sep 2006
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Year round lambing, Massey University

Sat 09 Sep 2006

New Zealand lamb production is driven by the seasonal pattern of pasture growth, resulting in an inconsistent supply of lamb for slaughter. Yet, international lamb...
Sep 2006
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Avoiding Lameness in Dairy Cattle

Sat 09 Sep 2006

Farmers lose about $300 per lame cow. Lameness is caused by poor race design, poor cowshed design, and poor handling of stock. The item looks...
Sep 2006
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Increasing Lamb Survival Breeding for Cold-Tolerance

Sat 02 Sep 2006

For some years Lincoln has been working with gene marker technology to identify genes that are associated with desirable or undesirable traits in sheep. Footrot...
Sep 2006
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Biofarm Products Limited

Sat 02 Sep 2006

For 20 years, Cathy and Jamie Tait-Jamieson have been both farming and processing Biofarm organic acidophilus yoghurt on their farm near Palmerston North.

Milking 150 cows,...
Sep 2006
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Controlling Slugs Sustainably

Sat 26 Aug 2006

Slugs severely hinder the establishment of new crops such as clover, ryegrass, winter wheat, pasture and even maize, resulting in the increased costs of re-sowing,...
Aug 2006
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Woodside Farm

Sat 26 Aug 2006

Indigenous forest management has been the subject of public and political debate in New Zealand over the last 30 years, with a strong lobby against...
Aug 2006
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Being a Beekeeper is B Difficult

Sat 19 Aug 2006

Both beekeeper numbers and hive numbers have declined in recent years.

Varroa mite did a lot of damage, and now there is the possibility of diseases...
Aug 2006
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Weather Bomb - The Face of Recovery

Sat 19 Aug 2006

When Rupert and Sandra Curd went to bed on Sunday 11 June it was calm and quiet outside their window. Rupert was looking forward to...
Aug 2006
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Take-all wheat disease

Sat 12 Aug 2006

Canterbury is home to some 90% of the countrys arable farmers. Take-all is a disease which can, in a bad year, lead to crop losses...
Aug 2006
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The New Zealand Alpaca Industry - Striding Ahead

Sat 12 Aug 2006

Russell and Carolyn Nelson have a lot to thank Americans for.

It was American tourists who first aroused their curiosity in all things alpaca back when...
Aug 2006
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Keratec

Wed 09 Aug 2006

Keratec is a manufacturing, product development and technology licensing company formed in 2003 and owned by Wool Equities, Canesis Network (75% Wool Equities and 25%...
Aug 2006
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Harry Parke

Wed 09 Aug 2006

While Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons commutes between Parliament and the electorate her husband, Harry Parke is busy running their organic farm.

Most of the farm...
Aug 2006
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Zane and Ngaire Evans - White Star Station

Sat 29 Jul 2006

The Evans family has farmed on White Star station, near Colville, for 6 generations, since 1864. The original settlers cleared the land of kauri and...
Jul 2006
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The Whenuakite Kiwi Care Group

Sat 29 Jul 2006

The kiwi, New Zealands national icon, is under siege. By 2004, the population had fallen to about 70,000.

The Whenuakite Kiwi Care Group a partnership...
Jul 2006
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Better Brassica Management

Sat 22 Jul 2006

Brassicas such as kale, swedes, turnips and rape, can provide high yielding, high quality standing green feed suitable for wintering stock, and as a supplement...
Jul 2006
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Coromandel covenants

Sat 22 Jul 2006

Peter and Margaret Simpson have 389ha of which 280ha is pasture and the remainder is native bush and forestry. Son John Simpson also lives and...
Jul 2006
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Wayne and Elaine Cook, winners of the Sharemilker of the Year 2006.

Sat 15 Jul 2006

Wayne and Elaine Cook moved from Waikato in the North Island to Southland six years ago and jumped from 240 cows to 550 cows on...
Jul 2006
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Hereford Prime

Sat 15 Jul 2006

Branding of meat products is one way farmers and processors can attempt to add value and squeeze a bit more out of the market. On...
Jul 2006
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Robo-hoof and rainmaker test soil and water impacts

Sat 08 Jul 2006

Farmers need to manage their stock in a way that looks after soil and water quality, protecting productivity while minimising environmental impact.

Pugging, caused by too...
Jul 2006
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Deer Improvement Research & Development farm

Sat 08 Jul 2006

Artificial breeding for the farm deer industry is a relatively new concept, although it has been used by traditional deer studs for a while. Deer...
Jul 2006
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Huka Prawn Park; breeding, feeding and eating prawns

Sat 01 Jul 2006

This is New Zealands only prawn farm, producing up to 32 tonnes of prawns per year from 19 ponds, with around 99% consumed in the...
Jul 2006
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Scientists hunt for possum-specific poison

Sat 24 Jun 2006

The total number of possums in New Zealand first released in 1837 to establish a fur industry - is probably many tens of millions.

They...
Jun 2006
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Matthew Truebridge

Sat 24 Jun 2006

Matthew Truebridge has been in the family contracting business for the past 18 years, centred on Turangi and including Taumarunui. He was planning to buy...
Jun 2006
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The search for an effective alternative to methyl bromide

Sat 17 Jun 2006

For more than 30 years, New Zealands strawberry industry has relied on methyl bromide for preplanting sterilisation of soil. This minimises pest and disease problems...
Jun 2006
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Moerangi Station

Sat 17 Jun 2006

Moerangi station is 3877ha in size with 2150ha of effective farming area. It is owned by the Puketapu 3A Trust, part of Ngati Tuwharetoa, based...
Jun 2006
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ENZAFoods

Sat 10 Jun 2006

ENZAFoods, a subsidiary of Turners & Growers, has three processing plants, one at Hastings and two at Nelson. In total they receive over 100,000 tonnes...
Jun 2006
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Strip Tillage six years on

Sat 10 Jun 2006

An encounter when cultivating land that was once stump country led Hugh Ritchie to develop one of the most commonly used minimum tillage practices in...
Jun 2006
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Matapiro Station Then and Now

Sat 03 Jun 2006

Matapiro Station is one of a handful of large sheep properties left in the country. Its current area is 1900ha, but originally it was a...
Jun 2006
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Telegraph Hill table olives

Sat 03 Jun 2006

Telegraph Hill started with olive tree plantings at Havelock North 10 years ago, by Rose Gresson, a dietician by training. The first fruit came off...
Jun 2006
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Lack of Magnesium Causes Scientists Headaches

Sat 27 May 2006

Citrus grown in Gisborne and to a lesser extent Hawkes Bay is sometimes less sweet than it needs to be for export, and this can...
May 2006
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Falcons for Grapes Project, Marlborough

Sat 20 May 2006

The New Zealand Falcon is a threatened bird species. Its range and territories have shrunk with settlement and horticultural development. Mammalian predators now take eggs...
May 2006
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Farming and viticulture in Marlborough, Tyntesfield

Sat 20 May 2006

In 1997, 2655 hectares of Marlborough was planted in grapes. Thats now increased almost fourfold to 9877 hectares. Vineyards occupy areas which previously finished stock...
May 2006
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NZ Sauvignon Blanc research project

Sat 13 May 2006

NZ Sauvignon Blanc programme

The first large-scale wine research project for New Zealand aims to help the industry retain and understand the unique flavour of Marlborough...
May 2006
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Marlborough Farmers Market Growing Locally

Sat 13 May 2006

The Marlborough Farmers Market started five years ago, and has grown to the point where it is very popular with both locals and tourists alike....
May 2006
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Forage maize yield measurements in real time during harvesting,

Mon 08 May 2006

John Austin Ltd has over 20 tractors, two combine harvesters, three forage harvesters, sprayers, trucks and other agricultural machinery. The business has operated since 1980...
May 2006
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Saffron the essence of a new strategic crop for Marlborough

Mon 08 May 2006

Saffron is used in oriental cooking and is becoming much more popular with western chefs. It comes from the stigma (female portion) of the saffron...
May 2006
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Challenges of dairy farming and building on peat land.

Sat 29 Apr 2006

In 1992 Landcorp decided to take Pouarua Block, in the Hauraki Plains, from beef heifer finishing and cow-calf farming to dairying. The old Pouarua station...
Apr 2006
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Tracka - lifestyle block animal recording scheme.

Sat 29 Apr 2006

A mandatory animal identification and traceability system for all domestically farmed livestock will be in place in New Zealand by October 2007. This is so...
Apr 2006