29th May 2026 // Rural News in partnership with Farmlands

Budget 2026 delivers rural wins for farmers Federated Farmers welcomes budget roading resilience funding Wool market breaks through seven dollars for first time in a generation Rural News is in partnership with Farmlands as part of CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp - our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch / listen.   Budget 2026 delivers rural wins for farmers Yesterday's Budget included three significant announcements for rural New Zealand, covering planning reform, emissions and wilding pine control. The Government has committed two-hundred-and-ninety-four million dollars over four years to replace the Resource Management Act, with new digital tools and national data standards aimed at making land-use rules simpler and faster for farmers and rural property owners. On emissions, the Government has officially confirmed it will not proceed with on-farm emissions pricing. Instead, four-hundred million dollars will go toward accelerating agricultural mitigation technologies through public-private partnerships including AgriZeroNZ. And seventy-nine million dollars over three years has been allocated to wilding pine eradication, targeting nine high-country priority areas including the Mackenzie Basin and Molesworth Station — protecting productive farming land from one of the sector's most persistent pest threats.   Federated Farmers welcomes budget roading resilience funding Meanwhile Federated Farmers is welcoming a four-hundred million dollar Budget allocation to strengthen roading resilience at known vulnerable spots around the country — saying rural communities can't keep being cut off every time a major weather event hits. Infrastructure spokesperson Mark Hooper says the funding for drainage, slope stabilisation and rockfall protection at sites like the Waioweka Gorge in Gisborne and the Tākaka Hill on State Highway Sixty in Tasman-Nelson is exactly what Federated Farmers has been calling for. He says in a tight Budget, finding that money is a positive signal — but warns that repeated patch-ups at chronically vulnerable routes will ultimately cost more than investing in alternatives. Hooper says New Zealand needs an agreed, prioritised thirty-year infrastructure pipeline to build and retain the skilled workforce required to do the job properly.   Wool market breaks through seven dollars for first time in a generation New Zealand's wool market has reached a landmark not seen in almost a generation, with several well-presented fleece lots breaking through seven dollars per kilogram clean at Thursday's Christchurch auction. The national strong wool indicator rose thirty-eight cents, with one hundred percent of the offering sold as strong demand continued to compete for available volumes. Crossbred fleece in good style jumped six percent to six-dollars-eighty per kilogram clean, while crossbred second shear lifted six to seven percent across styles. Oddments were the standout of the day — PGG Wrightson South Island auction manager Dave Burridge says good colour oddments well exceeded all expectations, up ten percent to five-fifty. Crossbred lambs wool also continued its upward run, with thirty-two micron lifting six percent to six-dollars-sixty per kilogram clean. Burridge says the milestone of seven dollars clean for quality fleece lots marks a significant moment for growers who have endured years of subdued returns. The next national auction is June eleventh, with seven-thousand bales rostered.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.