News

Farmer generosity with sheep donations set to provide Daffodil Day benefit for the Cancer Society. On 13 August the annual Marton Hogget Fair is scheduled for the Feilding Saleyards. Over the past few years, the event has doubled as a Daffodil Day fundraiser, which this year in particular should...

Why a Whanganui based sheep and beef representative with a shearing background enjoys the farming variety of his home region. Whanganui raised, Jimmy McDonald grew up on a lifestyle block, which gave him all the motivation necessary to opt for a career on the land. Jimmy has been a Whanganui based...

It’s rare to know where your wool ends up. It’s even more uncommon to see it come full circle, from your farm through the supply chain and back into a finished product on a store shelf in New Zealand. For Andrew and Heidi Jamison of Meikleburn Station in Fairlie, the wool they produce doesn’t just...

This October marks 20 years since the iconic merger of Wrightson Ltd and Pyne Gould Guinness Ltd, so we’re delving into the archives to revisit the stories of our founders. In 1919, Gould Beaumont & Co merged with Pyne & Co to form Pyne Gould Guinness Ltd, creating one of the largest rural service...

In this month’s Country radio interview, Jamie Mackay caught up with Rachel Shearer, General Manager of PGG Wrightson Wool, for a timely update on the state of the wool market. While other agricultural commodities are currently riding high, the wool sector is facing ongoing headwinds. Rachel...

Dairy farm values have grown since 2014, but perhaps not at the impressive rate expected. The median price for dairy farms in 2014 was $36,700 per hectare, and last year it was $38,700. The Country’s Jamie Mackay asked PGG Wrightson’s General Manager, Livestock & Real Estate, Peter Newbold, if a...

Mark Cuttance, PGG Wrightson’s Dairy Sales Manager - South Island, came in from the cold for a yarn about the market today. Cuttance, who is based in Gore, told the Country’s Hamish McKay he felt like he’d been “living in a fridge” for the last 10 days. Luckily, he said, the outlook for feeder...

The season closed out with strong wool prices up on the same time last year by up to 24%, however the market continues to reflect global uncertainties affecting many of our export industries. While prices remain mixed, recent auctions have brought some encouraging signs, particularly for well...

Tucked away in Southland’s rolling green hills near Dipton, Nigel and Jayne Beer are quietly preserving a rare piece of New Zealand’s farming history, one fleece at a time. As possibly one of the last commercial-sized run holders of purebred Lincoln sheep in the South Island, and perhaps all of New...

Pictured: Summerhill Charitable Trust trustee Gabrielle Walton and builder Charlie Cruickshank of CC Built. Tucked in the foothills of Pāpāmoa, where farmland meets forest, a new kind of community space has put down permanent roots - one that has the local surroundings at the heart of the building...

When Annabel Busby first joined PGW Wool on a fixed-term maternity cover contract, she had no idea that six years later she’d have carried out almost every role in the company's Napier wool team - nor that she would find her calling in an industry she never expected to enter. Today, as Appraisal and...

Paerata Abraham was recently celebrated at the PGG Wrightson Masterton store after clinching the 2024/2025 PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit title. This win not only etched his name into the shearing history books once again but he became the first Wairarapa competitor to claim the...

Following the New Zealand Government's recent announcement encouraging the use of wool in the construction and refurbishments of their buildings, one local company is ready to answer the call with style, sustainability, and a strong local connection. Signature Floors partnership with Ege Carpets, a...

Thank you to everyone who entered the 2025 LandMarks Photo Collection! With over 2,000 entries received in this year’s LandMarks Photo Collection photography competition, we are once again blown away by the remarkable showcase of photography talent and passion across rural New Zealand. Over the next...

Longstanding PGG Wrightson Livestock genetics auctioneer Neville Clark reckons the recently concluded record-breaking bull sales season is the start of something even more rewarding for farmers. “For the last 10 years I’ve been saying that the world will face a protein shortage. I believe the record...

Epic season for breeders as farmers intent on securing the best genetics available drive this year’s two-year-old bull sales to new record levels. This year’s two-year-old bull sales season ranks as one of the best ever, with large crowds attending, full clearances the norm and record prices...

North Island tallies consistent and sales brisk, while South Island experiences reduced throughput after busy autumn. Although many eyes have been on bull sales, elsewhere in the livestock market customary seasonal ebbs and flows are evident. Tallies through major North Island saleyards remain...

Supply-demand likely to favour calf rearers, making forward contracts a worthwhile option. With values around livestock at present, anyone seeking to rear calves this year should be in for a rewarding season. However, to maximise on-sell values, lining up a forward contract is worth considering...