• New Zealand and India ratify free trade agreement

• Election scorecard lets voters compare party organic policies

• Southland records wettest winter In 45 years

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New Zealand and India ratify free trade agreement

New Zealand and India have formally ratified their free trade agreement, with Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay confirming New Zealand has completed all its domestic procedures.

Mr McClay says fifty-seven percent of New Zealand's exports to India will be tariff-free from day one, including sheep meat, wool, coal and most forestry and wood exports. A second round of tariff cuts follows on the first of January.

Exporters will also get preferential quota access for albumins, apples and kiwifruit, with McClay calling it a strong result for New Zealand businesses and access to one point four billion Indian consumers.

The agreement enters into force on the twentieth of October.

Election scorecard lets voters compare party organic policies

Organics Aotearoa New Zealand has launched an election scorecard, giving voters a side-by-side view of where political parties stand on supporting the country's one point two billion dollar organic sector.

OANZ advisor Brendan Hoare says the scorecard, built from parties' responses to seven questions, will help around a hundred and twenty thousand organic-connected voters make their decision ahead of the seventh of November election.

Hoare says organic export earnings are growing more than twice as fast as the wider food and fibre sector, with nine percent growth recorded across multiple categories at home and abroad. He says the scorecard shows some parties backing the sector well, and others with room to improve.

The scorecard will be updated through the campaign as parties release further policy.

Southland records wettest winter In 45 years

Southland has just recorded its wettest winter in over forty-five years, with rainfall running thirty-three percent above average after a dry start to the year.

Environment Southland principal scientist hydrology Chris Jenkins says the region swung from very low rainfall in May to high and very high rainfall from late June onwards, making it the wettest winter since 1980 and the second wettest since 1970.

Compliance manager Donna Ferguson says farmers have managed winter grazing well this season, with buffers observed and critical source areas largely left ungrazed. With the grazing season ending on the thirtieth of September, she's urging farmers to limit stock movement over bare paddocks to protect soil and prevent runoff.

With El Niño still influencing the weather, farmers needing support can call the Southland Rural Support Trust on 0800 76 88 45.