Like all good ideas, Barrie and Yvonne Payne's decision to produce ultra-fine merino wool from merino wethers partly came out of necessity and followed a session with a blank piece of paper, a pen and open minds.
Southland was once the most intensively sheep-farmed region in the country, but new research showed the economy was now more reliant on the dairy industry than it was sheep.
Fonterra has officially been named the world's largest milk processor - for 2007 when it handled 2.7% of the world's milk volume.
The real buzz for Yvonne Payne was watching wool their sheep have produced end up in high-quality fabric.
The South Island wool selling season ended on a slightly stronger note last week, despite the exchange rate strengthening.
It may sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but Dunedin company ScottTechnology believes an automated lamb cutting room maybe just five years away.
Nearly $1 million was spent on research and development by Scott Technology in the first six months of this financial year.
Dunedin biomedical company Pacific Edge Biotechnology (Pebl) is a finalist in a competition with $1 million in research and development services as a prize.
Fish and Game New Zealand could be stung with a six-figure legal bill after a failed bid to get legal access to Crown pastoral lease land.
There are renewed calls for the meat industry to change the way it operates but little expectation it will happen.
Agriculture Minister David Carter is calling for changes to the meat industry, saying farmers could no longer rely on capital gains from appreciating land values to survive.
The stayer among finance companies, South Canterbury Finance (SCF), has agreed to look at the volume of its related party lending after concerns were raised about the historic relationships.
Silver Fern Farms will spend $10 million over the next year introducing a Dunedin-developed X-ray grading system to its six lamb-processing plants.
Researchers estimate up to 30 minutes a milking could be saved on an average dairy farm by removing cups based on time and not milk flow.
Lame dairy cows were a bigger issue in the South Island than in the North Island.
Cattle farmers are being advised to use national animal identification and traceability (NAIT) compliant tags on spring-born calves.
Wool growers will receive contract details in the next six weeks from Elders Primary Wool, which has announced the final details of its new supply arrangement with United States carpet retailer CCA Global Partners.
Clinton Gorge farmer Peter Wilson said he was delighted those farmers who had stayed loyal to growing quality wool would now be rewarded for their loyalty and perseverance.
Many businesses still seem to be in denial that the Government will establish an emissions trading scheme. Business reporter Neal Wallace reports that international momentum for such schemes is building, including among traditional dissenters the United States and China.
Climate Change Minister Nick Smith wants an end to 14 years of policy debate on the reduction of carbon emissions in New Zealand.
