• Faster access to agrichemicals under proposed law change

• Wool market hits new highs as supply tightens

• Fieldays sells out with less than a month to go

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Faster access to agrichemicals under proposed law change

Farmers and growers could soon access new pest control and crop protection products more quickly, with Environment Minister Nicola Grigg announcing amendments to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act.

The changes aim to speed up approval pathways for agricultural and horticultural products already available overseas — reducing duplication by making better use of assessments already completed by international regulators, while maintaining New Zealand-specific protections.

Grigg says the current system effectively manages risks but the approval process is too slow, too complex and adds unnecessary costs — putting New Zealand businesses at a disadvantage against overseas competitors.

The amendments build on a 2024 Ministry for Regulation review and do not change the role of the Environmental Protection Authority as the independent decision-maker. Grigg is clear the changes are about smarter process, not weaker protections.

For farmers and growers, the practical benefit is faster access to the same tools their international competitors are already using.

Wool market hits new highs as supply tightens

New Zealand's wool market has broken new ground again, with the national strong wool indicator lifting thirty-eight cents at Thursday's Christchurch auction — and one hundred percent of the five-thousand-one-hundred bale offering sold.

Buyers scrambled to secure volumes against a very restricted open market supply, with the offering coming in at just under half the expected rostered amount. All wool types lifted, with crossbred lambs wool up twenty-eight cents, fleece wool types gaining twenty-five to thirty-five cents, and strong bidding across oddments.

The year-on-year gains are striking — twenty-five micron wool that was making eight dollars per kilogram clean last year is now selling for eleven dollars and forty-eight cents clean.

The first halfbred clips are now arriving at stores, with early test results showing good colour and exporters continuing to signal that demand shows no sign of slowing.

Supply is expected to remain tight in the short term before pre-lamb shearing gets underway. The next national auction is May twenty-eighth, with seven-thousand bales rostered.

Wool Impact CEO Mark Caughey will join us for more on this story later this hour on CountryWide Connect

Fieldays sells out with less than a month to go

Every available exhibitor site at this year's Fieldays has sold out, with more than one thousand-one-hundred-and-fifteen exhibitors across one thousand-three-hundred-and-thirty-five sites set to fill Mystery Creek Events Centre from June tenth to thirteenth.

New Zealand National Fieldays Society chief executive Richard Lindroos says the sell-out is a clear signal of strong confidence from the agricultural sector heading into the event.

Visitors can expect the full range — agri-tech, farm machinery, new-to-market vehicles, and artisan food — across four days at Mystery Creek.

Tickets are available at fieldays.co.nz.