FARMER COLUMNS
A Wild Ride Through Life
This isn’t your average stuffy business or farming book; it’s a refreshing, no-holds-barred uplifting read into how to live a wonderfully imperfect life. Ian ‘Harv’ Harvey dishes out hilarious anecdotes and heartfelt wisdom on leadership, authenticity, and the magic of human connection. Words Sarah Perriam-Lampp.
Leave Tariffs to the Farmers
Hank Volger started ranching in 1971 in Spring Valley at the tip of Nevada, south of Las Vegas, near the Arizona border with two cows and seven sheep. His business Needmore Sheep Co has over 7,000 merino ewes shorn mostly by Kiwi shearers.
From Butter to Beef: Rethinking Our Food System
Jo Hay farms near Herbert in North Otago on 260ha plus a lease of 410ha at Moeraki with husband Ross and children Charlie, Phoebe and Archie. She is also an elected director of North Otago Irrigation Company Ltd.
The Ageing Infrastructure – 50% of Farmers
George Moss is a Waikato dairy farmer at Tokoroa. He examines the issue of ageing infrastructure through the lens of an ageing population of farm owners who must devise a successful succession plan.
Keep the Sheep!
Steven Bolt is a farmer from Corrigin, in the Central Wheatbelt of Western Australia. He runs a mixed farming enterprise of merino sheep stud and cropping. He is the President of the Western Australian Stud Merino Breeders’ Association. In addition, he sits on the board of the Live Export Advisory Group.
A quarter of our annual rainfall in 36 hours
Brent Fisher is a third-generation farmer based outside of Christchurch at Motukarara (1,000-acre hill block rising to 350m) and Greenpark (1,275 acres 2m above sea level). He farms with his wife Anna and children and operates the Silverstream Charolais and Hereford stud.
Carrying our story Further: Honest reflections from India
Sam Hurley is a third-generation farmer at Papanui Estate near Hunterville and co-owner of Honest Wolf with his wife Sophie and children, Harry, Gussie and Rosa.
Protecting Central Otago’s largest stand of alpine tōtara
Andrew Paterson is a third-generation farmer at Matakanui Station near Ōmakau with his wife Tracy where they farm Polwarth merino sheep and Hereford cattle.
When Alliance became a co-operative
Following years of strikes from unions, former Alliance Chairman John Falconer (93) recalls the creation of the co-operative and expansion of the processing and marketing operations under his tenure. Words Sarah Perriam-Lampp.
Markets move faster than regulations
Mark Guscott and wife Susannah farm 1434 hectares of sheep, cattle and crops near Martinborough, Wairarapa, with three teenagers keeping them honest.