Rural Guardian

31/07/2025

31/07/2025

🚙 HERS NOT HIS – NOW A REGULAR FEATURE 💪
What started as a one-off spotlight in Rural Guardian has taken off – and we’re thrilled to announce that Hers Not His is now a regular feature in the paper! 🎉

We’ve been blown away by the response to this celebration of women in agriculture, trades and rural life – and their beloved utes.

From builders to beekeepers, dairy farmers to dog groomers – if your ute’s your sidekick and your story has mud on its boots, we want to hear it.

📸 We’re now taking submissions for future features:
– Tell us about you, your ute and your work
– Share a favourite quirk, memory or playlist
– Snap a photo and show us life behind the wheel

👉 Follow our new page Hers not His
👉 Or message us here to submit your story

Let’s keep showcasing the women who are keeping rural NZ moving – one dusty dashboard at a time.

🚙💥 She’s not just a ute – she’s a sidekick, a workhorse, and a woman’s best mate.
Whether you're mustering sheep, milking at dawn, mapping crops, fixing fences, pulling calves, wrangling kids, or hauling dreams down back roads — we want to hear from YOU.

Tell us about you and your ute. Quick Qs below – DM to be featured! Sass encouraged 😉

💬 Where do you live, and what do you do?
(We’re into all kinds of magic – dairy farming, fencing, floristry, vet work, agronomy, building, shearing, welding… whatever your grind looks like.)

🚘 What year, make and model is your ute?
(Don’t forget if she has a name – we love a ute with personality.)

🧡 What’s your favourite thing about her – feature or quirk?
(Can be practical, emotional, hilarious – we love the weird and wonderful.)

🎶 What’s always on your playlist when you're on the road?

🍫 Ultimate road trip snack?
(The more chaotic the combo, the better.)

🛻 What’s always rolling around in the tray or back seat?
(Gumboots? A dog with attitude? Toolkit? Tell us.)

📸 Don’t forget to send us a photo

31/07/2025

The August Edition of Rural Guardian is here 🚜
Delivered to 30,000 South Island farm mailboxes - and available online now.

In this issue:

- What the proposed NZ Sustainable Finance Taxonomy could mean for farmers, and why Groundswell and Fed Farmers are sounding the alarm.
-We meet Jake Linklater, 2025 Young Plant Producer of the Year, and the duo from Rangiora High crowned Junior Young Farmers of the Year.
- Flood recovery and mental health support in the Nelson/Tasman from the Top of the South Rural Support Trust.
- Kiwi-grown grain is making a comeback - look for the new NZ Grown Grains logo.
- A Mid Canterbury wetland proves its worth, slashing nitrate levels by 43%.
- And we bust some common diesel myths for frosty mornings.

AAA FINAL Page 1 32 August 2025 RG LR 1 AAA FINAL Page 1-32 - August 2025 RG LR (1).pdf 22 MB download-circle

31/07/2025

Young Farmers are the future of New Zealand agriculture, so each issue we shine a spotlight on a Young Farmer. Today we chat to Tararua Young Farmers Club member Hannah Mackay.
NZ Young Farmers

Young Farmers are the future of New Zealand agriculture, so each issue we shine a spotlight on a Young Farmer. Today we chat to Tararua Young Farmers Club member Hannah Mackay. What is the name of your club, and how long have you been a member? I am member of

30/07/2025

From orchard novice to industry standout, Brooke Chambers is carving her path in horticulture with grit, growth, and big goals.
Anisha Satya has the story.

Our news, online, all the time.

29/07/2025

Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) will be blowing out the candles this July as the organisation celebrates 100 years of grassroots community support and advocacy.

Celebrations will take place all year across the country, with each branch marking the milestone in its own unique way.
The centennial is also a timely opportunity to welcome new members into the fold.
Claire Inkson has the story.
Rural Women New Zealand

Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) will be blowing out the candles this July as the organisation celebrates 100 years of grassroots community support and advocacy. Celebrations will take place all year across the country, with each branch marking the milestone in its own unique way. “Canterbury will b...

27/07/2025

Get a cluster of rural women together over a cup of tea (or wine, for that matter), and they usually end up changing the world.

That’s exactly what happened in 1925, when a group of women were left to their own devices while their husbands attended a Farmers Union conference.
Claire Inkson has the story.
Rural Women New Zealand

Get a cluster of rural women together over a cup of tea (or wine, for that matter), and they usually end up changing the world. That’s exactly what happened in 1925, when a group of women were left to their own devices while their husbands attended a Farmers Union

25/07/2025

For 100 years, Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) has been quietly yet powerfully shaping the heart of rural life - and now, the organisation is preparing to celebrate a century of connection, advocacy, and grassroots action.
Claire Inkson has the story.
Rural Women New Zealand

For 100 years, Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) has been quietly yet powerfully shaping the heart of rural life — and now, the organisation is preparing to celebrate a century of connection, advocacy, and grassroots action. “It’s a real milestone — not just of longevity, but of the place Rural...

24/07/2025

From our Farming through the Fog feature.
“A community is judged on the way it treats its weakest,” says Mid Canterbury-based mental health advocate Craig “Wiggy” Wiggins.

Wiggins’ grassroots wellbeing initiative, Lean On a Gate, may have been born during the isolation of Covid, but it’s more relevant than ever: because it’s focused on tools, not just talk.
Claire Inkson chats with Lean On A Gate founder Craig Wiggins.

“A community is judged on the way it treats its weakest,” says Mid Canterbury-based mental health advocate Craig “Wiggy” Wiggins. Wiggins’ grassroots wellbeing initiative, Lean On a Gate, may have been born during the isolation of Covid, but it’s more relevant than ever—because it’s ...

24/07/2025

Nearly a month on from the first of two major floods that swept through the Tasman region in July 2025, the area remains firmly in response mode.

According to Richard Kempthorne, chairperson of the Rural Support Trust Top of the South branch, the second round of flooding dealt a harsh blow to properties already hit hard the first time.

“Some properties that were affected badly the first time were affected even worse with the second floods, it all just depended on how much water and where it cut in,” Kempthorne says.

The Trust has been busy assessing damage and surveying farmers, with a large number now seeking assistance.
Claire Inkson has the story, where to get help if you are affected, and how to donate to aid to the Farmers Adverse Events Trust to aid recovery efforts.
Our thoughts remain with those affected.

Nearly a month on from the first of two major floods that swept through the Tasman region in July 2025, the area remains firmly in response mode. According to Richard Kempthorne, chairperson of the Rural Support Trust Top of the South branch, the second round of flooding dealt a harsh

23/07/2025

From our Farming Through the Fog feature.
Read what Becky Martin, West Coast Rural Support Trust coordinator ash to say in this issue of Rural Guardian.

The West Coast Rural Support Trust has a small, dedicated team of Trustees, Coordinator & support people dotted up & down the region. All farming or from farming backgrounds – we understand the struggles rural people come across. The West Coast is so geographically sparce with small pockets of com...

23/07/2025

From our Farming Through the Fog feature.
Read what Sarah White, Top of the South Rural Support Trust Regional Coordinator has to say in this edition of Rural Guardian.
Note: Sarah wrote this just before the two devastating flood events which recently hit the Nelson and Tasman region. Our thoughts are with all of those affected.

Note: Sarah wrote this just before the two devastating flood events which recently hit the Nelson and Tasman region. Our thoughts are with those affected. What are the biggest challenges facing rural people in your region right now – on-farm or off-farm? In some respect Top of the South is no