This section of the website holds articles on everything you need to know about running your lifestyle farm. Choose from the menu on the left to browse our articles.
What happened to the world all of a sudden? Things far away are affecting everyone and rising costs are going to make farm folk look very carefully at how things are managed. For us older folk, we can remember the ‘Make do and Mend’ slogan of WWII which could come in useful again.
There can’t be many folk left who believe that climate change is a myth, after the weather in January from floods to fires. It’s going to be the future and farming and is sure going to be a challenge when you don’t know what’s coming next!
November is a critical month for pasture growth and we have to get rain, because the rain we get now dictates growth for early silage, and preparing for summer which is many regions is predicted that it could be dry if long-term trends are to be believed.
There can’t be anybody around now who doesn’t believe in global warming after the massive damage done in many areas in July. The cleanup will be massive and take years.
As of the 9th May 2021 there is a change to animal welfare regulations. The changes cover a wide range of surgical procedures, including ones often carried out by the farmer such as tail docking and dealing with bearings.
This article describes several tiers of more serious offences that could result in a criminal conviction and fines of $3000 to $5000 for an individual and up to $25,000 for a body corporate.
There is an old saying that you put a $1 tree in a $10 hole. Inflation may adjust the figures but it still holds true. Put tenfold the effort into planting and you set your tree up for life.
Keith Olsen never considered keeping a small apiary on his 10 hectare South Otago lifestyle block but when a close family friend wanted to offload his bee-keeping equipment, the opportunity suddenly presented itself.
Animal Welfare Regulations highlight certain management standards that are expected of animal owners and make them more readily and quickly enforceable.
The almond is a dry-fleshed cousin of a peach with a tasty kernel. It is one of the first trees to blossom in spring and is long-lived for a fruit tree, living up to 70 years old.
The yellow and black bullets of evil seem to be everywhere. But not all wasps are equal. Knowing what wasp is what helps deal to these flying menaces. Annette Taylor takes a closer look.
In July 2012, the first stage of the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) scheme was introduced for all farmers in New Zealand – even lifestyle block owners.
It’s an easy concept to think of the soil as a bank. If you remove nutrients then you need to replace them to keep a state of ‘nutrient balance’ in the bank.
Despite NZ having a temperate climate with plenty of rainfall, water is still one of the most precious resources we have and we shouldn't take it for granted.
This Chinese climber is loved for its strong scent and delicate white flowers, and hated for its tough, vigorous, twining stems that rapidly swamp everything it grows over.
This exotic, ginger-scented perennial with massive, taro-like rhizomes close to the surface has shiny leaves, and cream coloured flowers overlapping in cone-like clusters from May to June.
AgResearch weed scientist Trevor James says he didn't know what he was looking at, at first. It was a photograph of velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti), one of the worst weeds in America and possibly the world. And it had just been found growing in the Waikato.
This large, luscious Tahitian interloper has leathery deep green arrow-shaped leaves and thick trunk-like stems, supported by a fleshy underground root system.
Originally from Brazil, the exotic sounding alligator weed is a dangerous invader sneaking into wetlands, rivers and even subdivisions around the North Island.
The original Fencing Act of 1908 has had many amendments over the years. There was a major main amendment in 1979, and then the Fencing of Swimming Pool Act 1987.
Meat sold in NZ and exported from NZ is subject to a number of standards under the Animal Products Act, which ensures that the meat is fit for human consumption.
Through the summer months the natural population of rats and mice rises as increasing quantities of food such as fruits, nuts and grains are available to them.
New Zealand "moggies" are due for a lifestyle change, and the outrage will come from their owners and not the cats, as felines are a very adaptable species.
On a lifestyle farm we usually either have too much or too little and the grass that does grow is often not where we need it - on the lawn, not the paddock!
Famously known as the poison which killed Socrates, hemlock is alive and living in New Zealand, and is still capable of causing death or at least birth defects in pregnant animals which eat the foliage.