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Christchurch Men’s Prison Piggery is not just a producer of premium free-farmed New Zealand pork, it is also a place where men in prison do meaningful work and build new employment and life skills.

As the farming season draws towards a close, the ups and downs of a particularly tumultuous year have finally started to make themselves clearer as crops are sold, herds start to be dried off, and the last of the season’s lambs are sold.

Two new Directors have recently been welcomed to the Ruralco Board bringing a wealth of experiences and farming knowledge to the table.

Having teamed up with Southern Stations Wagyu, Michael Schat has moved away from the dairy industry to pursue new opportunities as part-owner and operator of the company’s first Canterbury-based state-of-the-art wagyu composting finishing barn at Aylesbury.

Long-held features on local calendars for showcasing the district’s agricultural strengths, reinforcing community connections in a fun-filled family environment, and celebrating all that it is to be a Kiwi, the Mayfield and Methven A&P shows will run on consecutive weekends this month.

For the next three months we will look at the following: fodder crops, pre-emergence sprays on autumn sown crops, grass grub control in pasture, and use of gibberellic acid to increase pasture growth.

Look back and plan ahead to get the most from your autumn sown cereal crops.

In 2022/23, FAR investigated the viability of sowing legumes into ryegrass re-growth to a) extend the value of the crop by providing high quality feed, and b) reduce the N fertiliser spend for the next year (nitrogen fertiliser costs frequently make up more than half of farm expenses).

As I write this update, Canterbury’s Port Hills are burning. With evacuations, monsoon buckets, helicopters, tired firefighters, it all feels very familiar after similar events in 2017. For some time, fire risk has been extreme in many areas throughout New Zealand. The silver lining to this has been excellent conditions for grain and seed harvest, with many arable growers keeping up with harvest without the stresses of regular rainfall events leading to tight harvest windows.

As the rural communities of New Zealand grapple with the challenges posed by extreme weather events and shifting climate patterns, the call for climate adaptation is growing louder.