Beef finishing and dairy beef
Beef finishing herds Herds for beef finishing (getting cattle in prime condition for slaughter) are mostly found on the lowlands and downlands. Usually finishing farms buy in calves from
Part of story: Beef farming
Scientific breeding and cross-breeding
Scientific breeding In the 1950s and 1960s the Department of Agriculture began research into growth rates of beef cattle at Ruakura Research
Part of story: Beef farming
Shows and field days
Prize-winning bulls in the Grand Parade, axes and chips flying in wood-chopping contests, show-jumping, shooting galleries, candy floss and merry-go-rounds – New Zealand’s country shows offer something for everyone.
Part of story: Shows and field days
Seaweed
Amongst the tangle of fronds washed onto beaches after fierce storms, there will be delicate red laces, massive rubbery straps, slimy thin sheets, and brown beads that pop with pressure.
Part of story: Seaweed
Breed improvement
Measuring milk fat The introduction in the 1890s of the Babcock test for measuring the fat content of milk prevented unscrupulous farmers from watering down their milk to get paid for more
Part of story: Dairying and dairy products
Kelp
Kelp forests New Zealand’s largest seaweeds are collectively called kelps and belong to the brown group. Because beds of kelp have such a complex structure and are able to modify their
Part of story: Seaweed
Taihape district
Taihape Town 84 km north of Bulls and 29 km south-east of Waiōuru, sited above the Hautapu River (a tributary of the Rangitīkei) Taihape had a 2013 population of 1,509.
Part of story: Whanganui places
Traditional use of seaweeds
‘[O]n reaching the coast we were compelled to eat the rimu, or seaweed, instead. Yesterday, I should have thought seaweed poisonous, or nearly so; now, I eat it with a
Part of story: Seaweed
Beef farming in New Zealand
Importance of beef cattle Beef cattle have generally been less important than sheep and dairy cattle to the New Zealand economy. Before
Part of story: Beef farming
Moriori waka
The Moriori people of the Chatham Islands (Wharekauri), 800 kilometres east of mainland New Zealand, used four types of waka: waka pūhara, waka rimu, waka pahī and waka rā. These