AI, gene tech and the trends shaping NZ farming | EP 70

Contract milking has become an important part of the dairy farming progression pathway, yet contract milkers miss out on legal protections available to sharemilkers, even when they’re doing essentially the same job. So, is it time to rewrite the rules? In this episode, Federated Farmers sharefarmer chair Sam Ebbett and sharefarm owner chair Brendan Attrill unpack what the current gaps mean for both farm owners and operators, and how the rules could be modernised without losing flexibility. With the election approaching, they explain what Federated Farmers wants the next government to do, why better protections matter when disputes arise, and what’s at stake for the next generation trying to get a foot on the dairy farming ladder. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He ditched the city for shearing sheds across New Zealand, a Mexican shearing gang in California, and managing a farm for a Lord in England. Eventually, Alan Chapman-Smith settled on the rugged west coast of Waikato to raise a family and make his living off the land. In this episode, our host Ben sits down with his dad to hear the story of a life spent farming. Alan, known as 'Chappy', reflects on what drew him from Auckland to shearing and farming, what life was like for a farmer 50-odd years ago, surviving the upheaval of Rogernomics, how farming has changed, and why he eventually decided it was time to leave the land. There’s a personal reason for this conversation, too. With Alan facing some health challenges, Ben wanted to capture his dad’s story for his own kids, and their kids, to hear one day. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Want to know where the main parties stand on the issues that matter most to farmers and rural New Zealand? Hosted by Heather du Plessis-Allan at Mystery Creek, the Rural Issues Debate on 30 September brought together Todd McClay (National), Jo Luxton (Labour), Mark Patterson (NZ First), Andrew Hoggard (ACT) and Steve Abel (Green). The 90-minute debate covered the future of the ETS, whole-farm forestry conversions, the India FTA, rural connectivity, taxation, on-farm solar, the Paris Agreement and much more, with plenty of robust debate along the way.

East Coast farmer Blair Crawshaw has been using drones for eight years, putting them to work mustering stock, finding missing animals and pests, and checking for problems across his steep Motu farm, Tawa Hills Angus. In this episode, we get practical about how farmers can actually use a drone on farm — what it’s good for, what it can’t do, and what you need to know before buying one. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a friend asked Logan Wait to provide some meat for an event post-Covid, he realised there was a problem: he had the animals, but no easy way to get meat from the farm to the people who wanted it. That question led him to found Earth First, New Zealand’s first certified mobile abattoir of its kind. His big idea is simple: what if the meatworks came to the farm, instead of the animal going to the meatworks? Logan joins us to talk about leaving a corporate job in Auckland, returning to the family farm and building a new way for farmers to process and sell their meat. His vision is for Kiwis to have easier, more affordable access to high-quality meat, while helping farmers keep more of the value rather than losing it along the supply chain. Links