5th May 2026 // Rural News in partnership with Farmlands

Red meat co-op shares subdued despite strong livestock returns ACT promises open seat rule for rural school buses NZ wool heading to Turkish manufacturer behind Blue Mosque carpets 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.   Red meat co-op shares subdued despite strong livestock returns Shares in both New Zealand red meat co-operatives are trading well below their listing prices. Alliance Co-operative shares have fallen from one-ten to forty cents since listing on the Unlisted Securities Exchange in December, following the deal that saw Ireland's Dawn Meats take a sixty-five percent stake in Alliance Group. Trading has been thin, with fewer than ninety-thousand shares changing hands in six months. Independent advisers had assessed fair value at between thirty-five cents and eighty-seven cents. Silver Fern Farms Co-operative shares have also softened, last trading at sixty-eight cents — down from eighty cents a year ago and well below the co-op's net asset value of just over four dollars per share. Both Alliance and Silver Fern Farms returned to profitability in 2025. Livestock pricing remains strong, supported by a global supply shortage, though competition among processors for stock continues. ACT promises open seat rule for rural school buses ACT is promising to fix what it calls a glaring inefficiency in rural school transport, with Manawatū MP and Associate Minister of Agriculture and Environment Andrew Hoggard announcing an election commitment to introduce an Open Seat Rule. Under the policy, any child living along an existing school bus route could use it if seats are available — regardless of which school they attend. Currently, transport entitlements are tied to the nearest school, meaning buses can pass waiting children because they attend a different school along the same route. Hoggard says he's heard the same story repeatedly from communities like Ōpiki and Tokomaru — a bus going past with empty seats while a parent follows in a ute to get their child to school. ACT says the policy would cost nothing in most cases, using existing capacity already paid for. Where routes fill up, additional buses would be funded from within the Ministry of Education's existing budget. NZ wool heading to Turkish manufacturer behind Blue Mosque carpets New Zealand wool will soon feature in carpets made by the Turkish manufacturer behind some of the world's most iconic floor coverings — including those in Istanbul's Blue Mosque. Wools of New Zealand has secured a supply partnership with Kalida Hali, which has been producing high-quality woven carpets since 2005 and exports to sixty-nine countries, and supplies hotels, resorts and places of worship globally. Wools of New Zealand chief executive John McWhirter says the partnership connects New Zealand wool growers directly with a manufacturer where fibre quality, provenance and sustainability are recognised and rewarded. New Zealand wool will be used under the Wools of New Zealand branded fibre programme, giving end customers confidence in the product's origin, animal welfare standards and environmental credentials — traceable back to independently audited farms. McWhirter says it's another meaningful step in building value-led markets for New Zealand farmers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.