News

Favourable conditions lift demand for cattle and sheep An exceptional autumn across the South Island has the country looking superb and farmers seeking to make the most of generous feed reserves. Such favourable conditions have resulted in a big lift in demand for cattle and sheep, both on paddock...

Options available with potential dairy sector cashflow restriction A sizeable proportion of those in the dairy sector go through immense upheaval on Moving Day, and this year was no different with large numbers of workers, farmers and sharemilkers having to plan, shift and settle in before, on and...

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...

Shane Gerken, South Island Livestock Manager for PGG Wrightson and Jamie Mackay from The Country had a recent chat around Pink Week, the IHC calf and rural scheme. Pink Week is now celebrating a 41-year association with PGG Wrightson. Now the team at PGG Wrightson is encouraging farmers to buy a PEL...

Rural people living with intellectual disabilities and their families will receive a welcome boost of support this week as PGG Wrightson gears up to celebrate the 41 st anniversary of the IHC Calf and Rural Scheme. Pink Week, which runs from June 2 – June 9, aims to raise awareness of the rural...

Jamie Mackay from The Country recently touched base with Grant Nordstrom, Canterbury-West Coast Livestock Manager for PGG Wrightson. First topic for discussion was the calf selling season with North Island sales going well. Grant confirmed that as the season's gone on, the market has got stronger as...

Stock with the right genetics, raised on a meticulously applied feed regime, will result in beef carcases with the intramuscular fat (IMF) that consumers demand. Diners choose beef for the flavour, smell and feel when they are eating a premium cut. While multiple factors are necessary to produce...

Who eats beef, and what do they expect from it? Mark Mitchell is owner of Broadleaf. Established in 1988, Los Angeles-based Broadleaf is a niche protein supplier, importing New Zealand and Australian beef for sale to around 400 wholesalers throughout the United States from Alaska to Puerto Rico...

By Jake Phillips Applying some logical principles will result in an effective breeding programme. Producing ‘better’ animals by improving their genetics is the goal of breeding. For most ‘better’ would be classified as more productive or generating higher returns. Animal breeding programmes have...

Jamie McKay of The Country catches up with Andrew Gibson with PGG Livestock in Taranaki, commenting that it’s been a “bit of an Indian Summer”. Andrew confirms that the rainfall has helped the country stay green having rained throughout the whole summer, “keeping the markets nice and strong” with no...

An animal breeding programme should consist of three parts: an objective, a programme design and animal selection. In other words the ‘what,’ ‘how’ and ‘who’ necessary to improve your stock. If you don’t already have suitable advice on hand, find someone reliable, independent and knowledgeable, and...

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...