Stories by Monique Steele

Kiwifruit growers are welcoming the $24.1 million payout Zespri has received for the mice infestation on last season's first shipment of SunGold to Europe as "a late Christmas present".

Red-meat co-op Alliance says it will be an "emotional time" for the 55 remaining meat workers at its Smithfield plant today.

The warning comes as rural insurer FMG says there is often a spike in quad bike roll-overs in the lead-up to Christmas.

Kiwifruit company Seeka is supporting 100 ni-Vanuatu fruit pickers helping with summer pruning to contact their families back home.

Further tests are being carried out to ensure there was no spread beyond the one farm.

The months following the cyclone were a "massive challenge", the taskforce lead says.

Since a deadly strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, started circulating around the world, New Zealand government officials have been preparing for its arrival.

Rural midwives have been finding themselves more and more stretched - on-call 24-7, and teamwork is key, one says.

Last season, bad weather in Aotearoa flooded the domestic market with lower quality fruit.

This year's rally features vehicles from all over the world, including cars such as Talbots, Escorts, Porsches and Lancias.

A new report suggests they could be reduced by up to $10-20 billion in revenue each year.

A New Zealand start-up wants to give farmers a tool similar to the Covid-19 rapid antigen test for detecting and diagnosing mastitis in the herd.

The cost of shutting its Timaru meat works is costing the troubled red meat co-operative more than $51m.

Thirty-five graduate veterinarians will join rural areas in serious need of agricultural vets through the government's Voluntary Bonding Scheme.

MindHive Global was started in 2011, but soon pivoted to using AI to detect blemishes and grade the quality of hides at leather tanneries.

Ongoing dry conditions across Hawke's Bay have farmers on a knife's edge.

A large producer of fresh herbs like coriander and basil is flourishing as New Zealanders become more adventurous in the kitchen.

Growers want commercial vegetable production to be a "priority of national significance" in freshwater regulations.

Advocates want the government to address health inequities people living in rural communities face, in efforts to improve outcomes for those living outside main centres.

The sector is hoping to spawn a fungi revival to get more of the healthy food item onto kitchen tables to boost grower returns.

MPI has pushed out the opening date for the facility that will test imported plant material by at least five months.

Latest figures show at least 261,000 hectares of sheep and beef farmland have been converted into forestry since 2017.

Organisers of the Hawke's Bay A&P Show say pulling back the iconic event from three days to two will help keep it alive.

A new project is looking at creating animal feed from the greenhouse gas emissions that come from geothermal power stations.

New Zealand wool carpet companies are insisting wool-eating insects and pests are not as common as people think.