Public articles

The New Zealand sheep industry has had many discussions over the years about the perfect sheep and how that fits into the diverse range of farming conditions. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but a group of farmers and a scientist are working on that idea. By Sarah Horrocks.

BJ Holdsworth has many strings to his bow. Louise Savage reports on the switch to Wiltshire sheep and the hunting business.

Farming in tough Otago country has its challenges, but careful stock selection and the ability to change direction when necessary is proving successful for a Southland couple. By Annabelle Latz.

Sheep mortality in lambing could be compared to the negativity associated with bobby calves, a Marlborough farmer warns. Joanna Grigg reports.

Welcome to the inaugural best in sheep research awards where we arbitrarily celebrate the sheep-based science of the past year. By Dr Nicola Dennis.

Despite plenty of research and effort, water quality in Ashburton Lakes is slow to improve and solutions are hard to find. By Joanna Grigg.

Read Country-Wide Sheep 2023 online here, for free. Country-Wide is New Zealand’s only dedicated pastoral and arable farming magazine, available on subscription.

We asked Country-Wide readers who they thought had done the best job as Primary Industries or Agriculture Minister over recent decades. The results are in, with Nathan Guy just edging out Lockwood Smith as preferred Ag Minister.

On-Farm Research at the Poukawa Research Farm did much pioneering research on calf rearing from the mid 1990s, rearing about 8000 calves across a wide range of trials. Paul Muir offers his thoughts on what is still relevant to current calf rearers

Failure of calves to get sufficient colostrum and acquire early immunity is a world-wide problem, Paul Muir writes.