Livestock

Former police detective Lee Askew now runs a successful breeding and finishing farm in Gisborne’s Waimata Valley, and it all started with a sentimental attachment to Red Devon cows. Words and photos by Louise Savage.

A couple strive to maintain healthy and profitable stock, increase production, diversify where they can, and battle unwelcome pigs and deer. By Jo Cuttance.

By Nicola Dennis.

Investing in top genetics without compromising constitution has always been a priority for the McFadzean family, who farm 18,000 sheep, 1500 cows and 600 deer across four properties in Wairarapa.

Recent pasture growth rates have been huge, but Trevor Cook writes there’s frustration with low liveweight gains.

Rob and Marie Burke have done the hard yards at Puketira Station and are still looking for ways to increase revenue and improve practice.

Story and photos by Louise Savage.

Efficiency and consistency are the hallmarks of a Southland couple’s farming operation who are out to enjoy their last 10 years of farming. Terry Brosnahan reports.

Photos by Chris Sullivan.

There’s years of clean up and rebuilding waiting for the victims of Gabrielle. Photographer Louise Savage lives in the thick of the flooded Gisborne region and post-flood went to visit some of the locals dealing with the cyclone’s aftermath.

An 80-year-old English poplar fell onto stockyards on the Northland farm of former agriculture minister Sir Lockwood Smith during Cyclone Gabrielle, costing him $20,000 to reinstate.

By Glenys Christian

In part four of the Mycoplasma bovis series, Nicola Dennis delivers a timeline that delves into the detail – the good, the bad and the ugly – as New Zealand battled to control the M bovis outbreak.