News

Growth of online platform points way forward for buyer-seller engagement With bidr now operating weekly at 10 saleyards across the country, and becoming more of a focal point in livestock sales, buyers and sellers are finding more sophisticated ways to take advantage of the online livestock sales...

PGG Wrightson livestock tool eases cashflow and opens fast track to farm ownership Connor and Sephrah Edwards farm in Wellsford north of Auckland. They plan to achieve farm ownership within the next five years. PGG Wrightson’s GO-STOCK is an essential part of how they are going to do it. As Connor...

A farmer and well-being professional advises how to manage winter farming stress For those of us in dairy, calving starts soon, while for many of our friends and colleagues, lambing is not too far away. Today in farming well-being matters more than ever, and with the stress that the calving and...

Committed to giving an honest opinion Manawatu local Andrew Leggett has been a PGG Wrightson Livestock representative based in Feilding since March 2018. Along with his family he has shifted to Northland, and later this month will resume his role with the company, now operating out of Whangarei...

Planning ahead for success in farming Tom Dobson is a PGG Wrightson trainee livestock representative based in Canterbury. Growing up in Christchurch, Tom’s links to farming are through his father’s rural sector focused service business. “Spending most of my school holidays working on farms, and with...

Prospects lifting for velvet and venison Early season support from the South Korean health food sector, which accounts for 30 to 35 per cent of annual sales for New Zealand production, meant the 2022/23 velvet season started strongly. However, once those big contracts were filled demand fell away...

Eric Heta left school for the freezing works. A country boy, he also milked cows for a year, and enjoyed it. For Eric though, his entry into farming came with the words ‘I do.’ “Marrying a farmer’s daughter prompted my start in farming. I left the freezing works and we went 50-50 sharemilking. Up...

A farmer and wellbeing professional outlines practical tips and tricks to manage stress on the farm Even at the best of times farming can be a stressful business. Right now, for many of us, this is not the best of times: escalating interest rates, uncertain returns, and cataclysmic weather around...

bidr sale raises $117,180 to help Cyclone Gabrielle victims Deer farmers across New Zealand banded together in mid-March to support their deer industry whānau whose lives were turned upside down by Cyclone Gabrielle. Via an online charity auction on auction site bidr they raised $117,180, a clear...

Early enquiry recommended for anyone wanting dairy livestock next season As dairy farmers plan for the start of next season enquiry for forward settlements of herds and in-calf heifers is firm. Empty rates appear to be two to three per cent higher this season than normal, probably due to the...

Buyers and sellers benefit from flexible cashflow solution A mid-March South Canterbury on farm lamb sale illustrated the effectiveness of Go-Stock, PGG Wrightson’s flexible solution for on-farm cashflow. Hamish Orbell owns and farms 4100 hectare Clayton Station, a Fairlie Basin property farming...

Farmers offered opportunity to donate stock to support relief fund In early March I caught up with PGG Wrightson’s East Coast clients and staff to look at some of the devastation left in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle. While it’s fair to say that the resulting aftermath leaves a knot in the stomach...

Cropping farmers support store lamb sales, while calves presented in excellent condition Some South Island areas were dry through summer, particularly South Otago and Southern Southland, though rain in early March provided farmers in those localities with a measure of respite and the prospect of...

Favourable weather positive for both stock and support from buyers Weaner fairs are benefiting from the abundance of feed across all North Island regions, which is boosting the condition of stock coming to market, driving values up by as much as 50 cents per kilogram liveweight compared to last year...

Bernie McGahan left school after sitting School Certificate. “Dad became ill and needed my help on the farm. Although I’d always thought I’d get a farming job, I was a bit anxious because I hadn’t passed my exams. Once my father recovered, I needed to find myself a job. Previously he had farmed...

Steve Wilkinson loves seeing a plan come together. As Lower North Island regional manager for PGG Wrightson Livestock, covering a broad and diverse part of the country, taking in the large hill country units around Taihape, the variety of Wairarapa and Dannevirke, lush productive land in Manawatu...

Average prices up from last year, as Korean market propels demand for velvet January stag sales are a highlight of the deer farming year. After a productive Southland spring, the quality and weight of animals offered at this year’s auctions was excellent, and buyers responded positively, despite...

Planning ahead the key to success for buyers and sellers For anyone planning to sell or buy a dairy herd this autumn, the guidance is clear: talk to your PGG Wrightson Livestock representative today. On the back of strong global prices, herd sales last year were solid. Although the payout trend is...