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Two new partners sign with DWN

Dairy Women's Network is thrilled to welcome two new partners aboard to assist the Network in offering education and support to dairy farming women. Farming cooperative LIC and ruminant feed manufacturer SealesWinslow have both recently signed on as partners to DWN, a not-for-profit organisation that works to support women in the business of dairying. DWN chief executive Zelda de Villiers said the Network is extremely appreciative of the support provided by commercial partners to DWN, its m...

New business growth advisor joins Waikato Innovation Park team

Waikato Innovation Park's new business growth advisor Craig Purcell brings to the role a Waikato regional flavour, years of small business consulting experience and a passion for working with innovative and resilient people. Sitting within the Park's Business Growth Services team, Mr Purcell started in the role earlier this month, and says the businesses he will assist will vary greatly by size and industry. "Variety is one of the things l love about this field of work," he said. "It's the ...

NZ aviation company, Pacific Aerospace, gets huge profile boost in China

Hamilton, New Zealand - One hundred million Chinese are about to learn a whole lot more about New Zealand's own Pacific Aerospace and its flagship aircraft, the P-750 XSTOL. Six high-profile Chinese celebrities – two actors, a singer, a fashion model, television host and businessman –filmed two episodes of 'The Flying Man' in New Zealand this week. This popular aviation-focused reality TV show will air to 100 million Chinese viewers across 34 provinces and municipalities in late September...

Evita rehearsals underway in Hamilton

Cast from across the Waikato region have officially begun rehearsals for Evita; the next hit musical heading to Hamilton. The Hamilton Operatic Society's rendition of Evita (2006 London cast edition) will premiere at Clarence Street Theatre on Saturday 19 September and run for two weeks. The show stars approximately 40 cast and dancers from Hamilton and small surrounding towns. The lead role, Eva Peron, is played by Rebecca Wright from Auckland. Hamilton Operatic Society chairperson Rache...

Lodge City Rentals safeguards against potential ‘cowboy’ insulation installers

Hamilton, New Zealand – Lodge City Rentals general manager David Kneebone said the Government's new legislation that will see all rental properties fully insulated by July 2019, will undoubtedly bring out "cowboys" looking to make a quick buck through installation contacts. "If we take the same approach as Australia did when it introduced the Home Insulation Program in February 2009, contractors could be injuring and even killing themselves to quickly install insulation and keep up with dema...

First NZ Idol teaching teens in Waikato

Any New Zealander with access to television in 2004 will, without a doubt, remember Ben Lummis: New Zealand's first-ever 'NZ Idol.' Following his rapid rise to musical fame nearly a decade ago, Ben spent four years touring the world with his music before settling in Auckland to pursue a rather different, but equally heartfelt passion. For the past seven years Ben has given his all to youth social work at Auckland's Horizons Trust; a role he affectionately describes as "helping wayward teena...

Auckland ‘wealth effect’ hits Hamilton; first-home buyers get a hiding

Hamilton, New Zealand – Lodge Real Estate's managing director, Jeremy O'Rourke, said Hamilton is seeing greater numbers of Auckland investors jumping into the city's property market. "With house prices at an all-time-high in Auckland, owners have a larger asset base to borrow against. We're seeing them take advantage of this new-found wealth and using borrowed funds to get into property investments here in Hamilton. "On one hand, this 'Auckland Wealth Effect' is beneficial for local se...

Heartland grant completes Thermal Imaging Camera upgrade

The Turangi Volunteer Fire Brigade's Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC) is now completely upgraded thanks to a grant from KCE's Heartland Community Fund. For more than a year the Turangi Volunteer Fire Brigade has owned a TIC; a type of thermographic camera used in firefighting to pick-up on heat signals. However, chief fire officer (CFO) Tong Kingi said that to operate to its full potential, the TIC required a number of minor upgrades; including an attachment known as an Electronic Thermal Thro...

Lady Judi Gallagher named Patron of Waikato Women’s Refuge

Waikato Women's Refuge today announced Lady Judi Gallagher has become the organisation's inaugural Patron. Waikato Women's Refuge is a union of both the Te Whakaruruhau Maori Women's Refuge and Hamilton Refuge and Support Services. It operates safe houses and domestic violence support services for women of all ethnic backgrounds who come from throughout the Waikato to receive help in Hamilton city. The refuge currently supports 54 women and children in six safe houses. Lady Judi Gallagher, w...

CRV develops new herd testing device

Herd improvement company CRV Ambreed has developed a new, industry-leading herd testing device to create better efficiencies for New Zealand dairy farmers. Patsy Booth, herd testing manager at CRV Ambreed, says the new herd testing device will get milk production data to farmers quicker, which is a "great step in the right direction for enhancing and improving CRV Ambreed's herd testing service". CRV Ambreed currently employees 25-30 fully trained herd testing technicians across New Zealand ...

Good news all round for Hamilton renters and investors alike

Hamilton, New Zealand – An increase in the number of property investors purchasing Hamilton homes is increasing the number of rental properties available in the city, according to Lodge City Rentals business development manager David Kneebone. Kneebone recently presented to the Auckland Property Investors Association on the merits of investing in Hamilton. He says there is huge interest from Hamilton's northern neighbours and tells of one Auckland investor who recently purchased 15 proper...

New Farmax accreditation on offer for all

Pastoral science company Farmax is giving rural professionals a chance to become accredited in the Farmax system with its new accreditation process that was recently launched at the company's biennial conference. The accreditation is offered free of charge to anyone interested in completing it. "We often get people contacting us for recommendations on who the best people are to carry out projects using Farmax, and we will be recommending those who are 'elite' accredited," said Farmax senior ...

Young Mamma Mia leads geared to give star performance

Hamilton-locals Gwen Lyon (20) and Conor Gyde (19) are, by their very nature, geared to give a star performance at the opening of hit Broadway musical Mamma Mia in Hamilton later this month. Gwen and Conor have been cast as young leads, Sophie and Sky, in the Hamilton Operatic Society's rendition of Mamma Mia, set to play at Founders Theatre from Friday 19 June to Saturday 4 July. And if there's one thing the dynamic-duo have in common, it's their innate desire to perform: not only on-stage,...

FoodWaikato plant expansion to inject $38.5m into NZ economy

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today opened the $5m expansion of Waikato Innovation Park's FoodWaikato plant. The expansion is expected to inject an extra $38.5m per year in export revenue back into the New Zealand economy from the sale of new, value-added consumer products directly produced there. The first stage of the plant, a spray dryer facility, was opened in May 2012 and was funded by Innovation Waikato Ltd. and a Government grant of $3.95m and cost $12.8m to complete. ...

Hamilton man receives national aviation award

Rocky Rua (37), of Maori descent, is one of only ten people nationwide to receive an award at this year's Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) Annual Dinner held in Wellington this month (22 May). Mr Rua, a flight safety officer at Hamilton-based flight training organisation CTC Aviation, was the 2015 recipient of the prestigious Michael J Neville/Boeing Airplane Company Award. Chairman of New Zealand Aeronautical Trusts Limited (NZATL), John Mounce, said the award is managed by the NZATL and wa...

Hamilton PR agency wins national award for Buddy Day campaign

Hamilton PR agency HMC Communications took out a top Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) award at the industry organisation's annual conference dinner in Wellington on Thursday night (20 May). HMC Communications was one of nine category winners of the 21 award finalists, winning the Sustained Public Relations category for its work with child advocacy agency Child Matters on the annual child abuse prevention awareness event, Buddy Day. HMC Communications director Heather Claycomb...

Social Media Marketing Matrix

Ever heard of a 'social media marketing matrix'? This simple table helps us (and our clients) get the most out of social media on a week-to-week basis... take a look and feel-free to download for personal use....

Waikato mothers and babies at risk of losing ‘invaluable’ support service

A renowned Waikato support service for mothers and their babies is in urgent need of funding to keep afloat. Over the past 19 years, tens of thousands of Waikato mothers with children under 12 months old have benefited from the Hamilton-based Waikato Family Centre's health centred services. Yet while the number of clients to receive the centre's help has tripled since its inception in 1996, the level of funding has remained relatively the same, risking potential closure. "The centre is the...

Kiwi demo farm will improve millions of lives: President of Colombia

The President of Colombia told those who attended the opening of the first NZ-Inc. dairy demonstration farm in the high tropics yesterday, that New Zealand's help in bringing best practice farming knowledge, animal and pasture genetics to Colombia will improve the lives of millions. President Juan Manuel Santos opened Waikato farm development organisation Dairy Solutionz (NZ) Ltd's 117ha, 350-cow demonstration dairy farm in south Colombia yesterday (NZDT). The farm is owned by Corpoica and s...

Facial eczema tolerant genetics “essential tool for the dairy farming toolbox”

A well-known and respected dairy farmer, who was one of the first in New Zealand to introduce facial eczema (FE) tolerant genetics into his dairy herd, says they are an "essential tool for the dairy farming toolbox". Managing director of Sisam and Sons Ltd in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, Richard Sisam, has spoken out in support of these genetics, following an especially bad season for FE across New Zealand. This season is the fourth year Sisam & Sons have used CRV Ambreed's FE tolerant ge...

Popular calf nutrition workshop is back

Dairy Women's Network and SealesWinslow, a subsidiary of Ballance Agri-Nutrients, are again running free calf nutrition workshops throughout the country after last year's "extremely successful" events. SealesWinslow's Nutrition and Quality Manager Wendy Morgan said Dairy Women's Network had already received expressions of interest from 14 regions throughout rural New Zealand, highlighting just how valuable the best practice workshops are to successful operations. "Farmers recognise how impor...

CTC Aviation campaigns for safety around drones in New Zealand

A growing use of remotely piloted aircraft systems has prompted CTC Aviation to take action for the safety of its trainees and instructors in the Hamilton area. Remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) (otherwise known as unmanned aerial systems or 'drones') are becoming more and more popular for both recreational and commercial use. Readily available online or 'over-the-counter', RPAS can currently be purchased and operated without a licence or knowledge of the Civil Aviation Authority reg...

Hamilton businesspeople invited to hear from social media experts

Businesspeople interested in learning about best-practice social media use for building business reputation are invited to attend a unique event in Hamilton next week. The event, hosted by the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) and held at Wintec on Tuesday 5 May at 5.30pm, will feature a panel of Hamilton's most accomplished users of social media for business purposes. Panel members include Anj Jones, owner of The Girl on The Swing; Steve Carpenter, owner of Lead Social (who ...

Farmers have the chance to get smart

Dairy Women's Network's next round of free workshops will focus on making farmers' smartphones useful business tools, but without the bells and whistles, says facilitator Marlene Williamson. Williamson, who is a DWN member and self-employed computing facilitator, said farmers needed to know the capabilities of their phones and the value that could be added to their businesses, but didn't need to get carried away with 'the rest'. This is the nature of the workshops that she and Agritec educa...

Dairy industry’s next ‘All Blacks’ selected

In what's arguably the equivalent of making it into the All Blacks squad for a bull, a rigorous four-year selection process has resulted in CRV Ambreed's latest group of proven sires that are set to become household names. Thirteen young superstars have just graduated as CRV Ambreed proven sires, which means they are considered to have the highest genetic merit. CRV Ambreed's proven sires feature in the company's bull catalogue, which thousands of dairy farmers peruse each year to develop a ...