More than 120 women from across New Zealand’s seed and arable sectors attended the annual Women in Seed Forum in Christchurch. Claire Inkson More than 120 women from across New Zealand’s seed and arable sectors gathered in Christchurch for the annual Women in Seed Forum, a day focused on leadership, innovation, wellbeing, business and connection within the industry. Hosted by Seed and Grain New Zealand on May 28, the event brought together women working across the sector for

Fresh apricots prepared for sampling at local markets, where the Wilsons connect directly with customers. On a hillside above Clyde, the rows don’t look quite how you might expect. Instead of big, spreading orchard trees, everything is trained tightly onto wires, more like a vineyard than a traditional fruit block. It’s deliberate, and it says a lot about the way Tammy and Trent Wilson approach farming. They didn’t come into horticulture through generations of orchardists. T

Some dreams sit quietly in the background for years. Not because they are small, but because they require time, money, patience, and a certain amount of stubborn belief. For Matt and Helen Barbour, owning their own vineyard was one of those dreams. Matt has been in the wine industry most of his adult life. He studied viticulture and oenology at Lincoln University in the mid-2000s and has worked in wine since. Having a vineyard was never guaranteed, but it was always the goal.

Garston Hops covers about 30 hectares, with plans to reach 40. Supplied. Deep in the heart of Southland, at latitude 45 degrees south, sits one of the world’s most unexpected horticultural ventures. Garston Hops, owned and operated by James and Lizette McNamee and their family, has become the southernmost commercial hop farm on the planet. What started as a small experiment has grown into a thriving business supplying breweries from Invercargill to Auckland and across the wor

Lincoln University agriculture student James Clark says the Ravensdown scholarship will make a big difference as he heads into his second year. Eighteen-year-old James Clark was in the middle of farm work when he got the call telling him he’d won the 2026 Ravensdown Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship. “I had to take a couple of minutes just to stop and get my head around it,” he said. “I was quite amazed, really.” Clark, a Lincoln University agriculture student from Valetta,

Kim Schofield’s long-term plan is to transform the vineyard’s old winery shed into an art and tasting space. Supplied. When Kim Schofield bought an ageing Waipara vineyard in 2017, she freely admits the decision was not part of a grand winemaking strategy. “People secretly romanticise the idea of owning a vineyard,” she says. “The original idea was that it was an investment, but yes, there was a bit of romance in there too.” What Schofield did not know then was that the prope

Hemp New Zealand business manager Nigel Hosking shows Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour around the Ashburton Hemp facility. Anisha Satya Hemp is not a drug – that was the message Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regulation David Seymour shared while announcing a reform of growing rules at the Hemp New Zealand Ashburton facility. Industrial hemp will no longer require a licence to grow if the plants contain less than 1% of THC (the cannabis compound). Seymour said the

Farmer and chartered accountant Hamish Irwin was one of three new grower directors appointed to the board. Supplied A new Mid Canterbury face has joined the Foundation for Arable Research’s (FAR) ranks. Farmer and chartered accountant Hamish Irwin was one of three new grower directors appointed to the board. “I’ve had a bit of interest in governance for a while,” he said. “This position came up, I got a call from a local farmer who said he’d nominate me.” Irwin is the fifth g