Alexa Cook

Changing wool trends give rise to eco-friendly yoga mats

New Zealand farmers should act now to start reducing greenhouse gases instead of waiting for advice from the government, says an agribusiness consultant.

New Minister for Agriculture is determined to find out how the cattle disease mycoplasma bovis got in to New Zealand.

The dairy farmer at the centre of the mycoplasma bovis outbreak is worried it could be more widespread than the seven farms confirmed as infected.

Two new properties in South Canterbury are in lock down because of the cattle disease mycoplasma bovis.

Canterbury Regional Council's application for a new strain of rabbit virus is now with the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Organic industry leaders from the US are pushing for New Zealand to develop a national standard for organics so that the sector can cash in on the thriving market.

A bad batch of pesticide spray that ruined $9 million worth of apple crops contained a fungicide not intended for apples, testing has confirmed.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand is defending the farming sector, after a rural economist said it was not addressing its challenges.

Sheep measles rates are continuing to fall with another drop the detection rate in lambs processed this season.

The government's goal of a zero-carbon economy by 2050 is unachievable if farming stays the way it is today, agribusiness leader Mandy Bell says.

There needs to be a move into organic and biological farming if New Zealand wants to tackle the threat of alternative protein foods, a farmer says.

The farming sector needs to wake up to environmental challenges after being in a bubble under the previous government, a rural economist says.

A battle is heating up between New Zealand and Australian honey producers over what constitutes mānuka honey.

A bad batch of fungicide has ruined apples in the Nelson region and some fruit will be destroyed instead of exported, a grower says.

The new policies announced by the incoming government this week are a mixed bag for the rural sector, Federated Farmers says.

The rise in human exposure to glyphosate proves people ingest it when eating Roundup-sprayed crops, the lead researcher says.

A potentially deadly farming-related disease is making its way into urban populations.

Farmers are nervous about potential restrictions on immigration by the new government and want to know what deals have been struck on policies.

The Real Estate Institute is expecting a surge of dairy farms to hit the market in Waikato and Southland.

The police are urging farmers to be on the look out for stock thieves and poachers over the long weekend.

Farmers remain nervous about the cattle disease, mycoplasma bovis, despite the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) being cautiously optimistic that it was under control.

A Waikato farmer is pushing for the government to provide better mental health support for the rural sector.

A disease that can kill cattle is worse this year than others, a Northland farmer says.

A Bay of Plenty farmer says this has been the toughest year of farming in his 35 years on the land.