Running a farm means leadership under pressure is part of the job. When the weather turns, the workload spikes or the unexpected hits, there’s no pause button. Southland leadership trainer and former military veteran Tony Groves hel...

It’s been more than two years since the Government promised to let young farmers use their KiwiSaver to buy their first home or farm — but nothing has changed. In this episode, we talk with Kylee Smit, a Cambridge-based mortgage adv...

Contract milking remains a key stepping stone in New Zealand dairying, but what does it take to succeed in this role today? In this episode, Dairy Holdings chief executive Colin Glass shares his experience running one of the country...

Alliance Group farmer-shareholders are facing one of the biggest decisions in New Zealand’s red meat sector in decades: whether to approve a proposed $250 million joint venture with Europe’s Dawn Meats Group. In this episode, we’re joined by Pr...

Fonterra is at a crossroads, with its proposed sale of Mainland Group raising big questions for its farmer suppliers, the wider dairy sector, and everyday consumers.In this episode, we’re joined by Matt Montgomerie, a senior analyst at F...

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week, and North Canterbury dairy farmer Bex Green is opening up about one of the toughest periods of her life. Between a severe injury, raising three kids, and running a 1000-cow contract milking operati...

Farmers across New Zealand are voicing growing frustration with regional councils, resource consents, and the cost of compliance. Nothing has captured that frustration quite like Canterbury farmer

Dairy, beef and sheep farmers are all enjoying strong returns right now – but as every farmer knows, the good times don’t last forever. In this episode, Federated Farmers dairy chair Karl Dean shares practical advice on how to turn today’s prof...

Scott Wishart from agricultural loan broker NZAB joins us to discuss how farmers can take more control of their banking outcomes. Scott shares practical advice on how to become “bank-ready,” what information to gather beyond budgets...

Farmers rely on rural media to stay informed – but shrinking print runs, social media, and changing news habits are putting pressure on traditional outlets.  In this episode, we sit down with Dean Williamson, CEO of AgriHQ and publi...

Farmers have long been saying they’re getting a raw deal from the banks – higher interest rates, tougher lending rules, fewer options, and growing pressure around environmental reporting. That’s why Federated Farmers pushed so hard for a rural ...

Carbon forestry is spreading fast, and the impacts are becoming impossible to ignore for farmers in regions like Southland. In this episode, we’re joined by Dean Rabbidge, Southland Federated Farmers meat & wool chair, to talk about what he...

In this episode, we dig into the mental health challenges facing farmers and rural communities, and ask: is the support on offer actually working?Matt Doocey, New Zealand’s first dedicated Minister for Mental Health, joins us to discuss ...

A month since he won the prestigious NZ Young Farmer of the Year Award, we catch up with Hugh Jackson to find out how he’s feeling about the win and get to know a bit better. We dig into his background, his personal goals, his menta...

In this episode we’re digging into a hot topic in the primary sector – regulation of agrichemicals and the role of the Environmental Protection Authority, or EPA.David Birkett, Federated Farmers’ biosecurity spokesperson and arable chair...

In this episode, we take a hard look at where things are at for the red meat and wool sectors right now, including what’s driving the strong red meat returns, but also pain points like processor viability, falling stock numbers, productive farm...

Legal issues on the farm can be stressful — and often dealt with only when things go wrong. In this episode, you'll hear from lawyer Simon Middlemiss about the most common legal and employment problems farmers face, and how to avoid them. ...

We’re continuing the theme of farm succession by chatting with Peter Templeton, a fifth-generation Southland dairy farmer, who spent five months travelling the USA and Europe as a Nuffield scholar, researching what works (and what doesn’t) when...

When we talk about assets on farm, we often think of land, livestock, and machinery. But there’s one asset that’s even more important — and that’s you, the farmer.  Farming can be risky, physically and financially, and too often we ...

Farm ownership is becoming harder for young Kiwis, and traditional succession is no longer working for many farming families. In this episode, we hear from Sarah How, founder of Landify, about the challenges and opportunities in far...

Foot-and-mouth disease is one of the most serious animal diseases globally, and while New Zealand has never had an outbreak, the risk is very real. If the disease were to make it to our shores the consequences would be huge for our rural commun...

Gallagher’s Sarah Adams returns to explore the latest in agri-tech, from virtual fencing to smart ear tags and integrated data systems. She shares insights from U.S. farming trends, discusses adoption barriers, and offers practical advice for t...

Farm succession—it’s one of the biggest challenges facing New Zealand’s rural families. How do you pass the farm on to the next generation in a way that’s fair, makes financial sense, and keeps relationships intact? Our guest today ...

New Zealand’s sheep population has plummeted from over 70 million in the 1980s to just 25 million today—and the decline is accelerating. In this episode, we speak with Toby Williams, national meat and wool chair and a sheep farmer h...

A recent contract milking survey has sparked debate across the dairy industry. In this episode, we speak with survey creator Louise Gibson, and Brendan Attrill, a long-time industry leader and Federated Farmers farm owner representative, to unp...