Todd Talks with Todd Muller National MP The Labour Government has announced their first budget – and I’m sorry to say it spells bad news for the readers of Coast & Country News. It was a predictable tax and...... Read More

Vet's vision with Phil Rennie Tauranga Vets Mycoplasma bovis is a bacterium that causes illness in cattle, including udder infection – mastitis –abortion, pneumonia and arthritis. In July 2017, the Ministry for...... Read More

DairyNZ Farmers Forum with Sue Edmonds The two days of the DairyNZ Farmers Forum at Mystery Creek last month were interesting, both for what was said and what wasn’t referred to. The two Ministers – Minister of Agriculture,...... Read More

A long range forecast for the weekend anticipating fine, calm weather, encouraged a group of keen fishos to arrange a remembrance trip for Hugh Ensor. Boss and skipper at Blue Ocean Charters for the last 31 years, he recently passed away and is sadly...... Read More

Hort Talk with Mike Chapman HorticultureNZ CEO Every six years, industry good organisations, such as Horticulture New Zealand, are required to ask their levy-paying farmers and growers for continued support and funding. If this...... Read More

Soil matters with Peter Burton Functional Fertiliser Ltd  The reason for excess nitrate entering waterways and aquifers is that too much ‘bag N’ is being applied to pastures. The total amount being applied varies...... Read More

Finance with Don Fraser Fraser Farm Finance The New Zealand ownership of mainly dairy farms started with the 50:50 sharemilking regime in the 1960s-1970s. If you could cobble together enough cash to buy 100 cows and a bit of...... Read More

Beneath the surface with David Law Forward Farming Hawke’s Bay dairy farmers Kay and Roger Feather have faced challenges with their effluent pond at a pretty extreme end of the scale – and have come to the conclusion...... Read More

Dairy life with Donna McKinley  June 1 – or as us farmers call it ‘Gypsy Day’ – is just around the corner! The day where I put my Tetris packing skills to the test and furiously run around doing the...... Read More

Outlook with Bill Webb Bill Webb Feed Solutions The cows are dry, so it’s time for farmers to reassess everything – where they’re at in terms of their farming operation, budgets, and goals moving forward –...... Read More

Abundant living with John Arts Abundant Health Last edition we discussed how osteoarthritis – also known as OA – is mostly caused by the loss of cartilage-secreting cells called chondrocytes. Their job is to maintain...... Read More

Tane Braithwaite Blue Ocean Fishing Charters  Once again we’ve been sneaking trips in between the windy patches. Ratahi, with skipper Andy, has been fishing inshore between two and five miles out. The cooler conditions...... Read More

Todd Talks with Todd Muller National MP  The Labour/Greens/NZ First Government is raiding the regions to pay for pet projects in Auckland. First came the announcement – out of the blue – that the Government...... Read More

Vet's vision with Phil Rennie Tauranga Vets   Cooperia is the small intestinal worm regarded as being the most prevalent roundworm in New Zealand cattle. They are reddish in colour and quite small growing up to 10mm...... Read More

with Sue Edmonds   How often does the small paddock next to the farm dairy contain cows with sore feet?  Probably too often. Lameness is sometimes the bane of a farmer’s life. So, when I attended a recent SMASH seminar...... Read More

Better soils with Brett Petersen Kiwi Fertiliser & Golden Bay Dolomite  This article is adapted from an article by Don Hart of Top Soils, Canterbury. The ‘Albrecht System of Soil Fertility’ refers to the principles...... Read More

Hort Talk with Mike Chapman HorticultureNZ CEO  Our Land 2018 was released by the the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand in April. This report draws together the data and details about our country’s...... Read More

Soil matters with Peter Burton Functional Fertiliser Ltd One well-known farm consultant derides any alternative to the superphosphate, muriate of potash, and urea-driven soil fertility system as “flying in the face of 60...... Read More

Outlook with Bill Webb Bill Webb Feed Solutions   The army caterpillar has been putting pressure on new grasses and crops. We’ve had to spray all of our lease land because of the high concentration of them. And I...... Read More