26th August 2026 // Rural News

New report shows dairy sector delivers twenty-eight-point-eight billion in export earnings NZ wine shows resilience as global market contracts Virtual farm visits connecting more than a thousand students with real farmers   WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command ‘Play CountryWide Connect’ on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.   Apple: https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&hl=en_NZ   New report shows dairy sector delivers twenty-eight-point-eight billion in export earnings  New Zealand's dairy sector remains the country's largest export earner and one of its most important economic contributors, according to updated analysis released today by Sense Partners. Commissioned by DairyNZ and the Dairy Companies Association, the report confirms dairy exports reached twenty-eight-point-eight billion dollars in the year to December 2025 — and since 2021, the sector has delivered eight-point-three billion dollars in additional export revenue, contributing nearly half of New Zealand's total goods export growth over that period. The sector directly employs more than fifty-one-thousand people, with its impact felt most strongly in regional New Zealand. One in four jobs in South Taranaki is a dairy job, dairy delivers twelve percent of West Coast GDP, and nearly fifty percent of wages paid in Waimate district come from the sector. DairyNZ head of economics Mark Storey says backing dairy means backing regional communities and a more productive New Zealand — well beyond the farm gate.   NZ wine shows resilience as global market contracts New Zealand wine exports are holding their ground in a tough global environment, with volumes growing to more than three-hundred-and-six million litres in the year to June — though average prices have softened to six-eighty-eight per litre, down from seven-twenty-seven the previous year. Export value was essentially flat at two-point-one billion dollars, up just half a percent, as the industry navigates what NZ Winegrowers general manager Charlotte Read describes as a period of significant reset. Across the Tasman, Australia's wine exports sank to a twenty-two-year low, falling below six-hundred million litres for the first time since 2004. New Zealand is outperforming key competitors in several markets — UK volumes rose sixteen percent while Australia's fell six percent, and China was a standout with New Zealand volumes up seventy-two percent to sixty-nine million dollars. US tariff uncertainty and softening consumer demand remain headwinds, with New Zealand's US exports down five percent in volume.   Virtual farm visits connecting more than a thousand students with real farmers More than a thousand primary school students are getting regular live farm visits — without leaving their classrooms — through the Beef and Lamb New Zealand-funded Farmer Time for Schools programme. In 2025, one-thousand-and-seventy-five students and forty-three teachers connected with thirty-nine farmers across New Zealand through live online field trips covering sheep, beef, dairy, vegetables, bees, deer and more. Beef and Lamb New Zealand is calling for agriculture to be included in the Year zero to eight curriculum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.