Monthly ArchivesMarch 2020

Dairy Woman of the Year, primary school teacher and passionate environmentalist Trish Rankin from Taranaki wants all farmers to get educated on the six Rs of waste decision-making: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse/Repair, Recycle, Rehome and Rot (compost). Rankin took part in the Kellogg Leadership Programme last year. With her research project focussing on minimising waste on farms, she looked at how a circular economy model could be developed for a New Zealand dairy farm. Essentially, this involves regenerating natural systems, designing out waste and pollution, and reusing products and materials. Rankin’s reflection on how she could be doing better with her farm waste was the main driver for the project. Trish and her husband Glen are in their second season as ...

Simon Cook, a third generation kiwifruit grower from the kiwifruit capital of the world and owner of a spray contracting business, summarises how environmental stewardship envelops his business ethos with the Maori proverb, Whatungarongaro te tangata toitū te whenua – translated to ‘As man disappears from sight, the land remains’. “I’m on a property that’s been here for three generations and I’m hoping to pass it on to my kids. I don’t want to leave something behind that they’re going to have to clean up in the future. Part of that is dealing with chemicals and minimising their impact,” says Cook. Cook and his family grow green and gold kiwifruit varieties in Te Puke and have recently branched out to ...