Otago Daily Times News Feed

A mother says she was told by a bank it would only consider giving her a mortgage if she returned to work within 90 days of giving birth.

Act leader David Seymour. Photo: NZ Herald Act New Zealand leader David Seymour says a woman being denied a mortgage because of her 12-month maternity leave is yet another example of the Government’s lending laws not working.

An aerial photo taken from a New Zealand Defence force P-3 Orion on January 16, 2022 shows Mango island in Tonga with no houses left after impact from a tsunami. The inset image shows some makeshift shelters. Photo: Crown copyright 2022 NZDF The Tongan government has confirmed that all houses on the island of Mango were wiped out in the tsunami that followed Saturday's volcanic eruption.

Robert John Martin (second left) with his family (from left), James, Sheena-Jayne, Anna and Scott Martin last year. PHOTO: SUPPLIED/SHEENA-JAYNE MARTIN For Robert John Martin, home was in the sky.

Estate Vineyard Management worker Robyn Sim displays clusters of young fruit at Grasshopper Rock’s Earnscleugh vineyard. PHOTO: TRACIE BARRETT Fine weather over Christmas and New Year has been a boon for Central Otago vineyard managers, both in terms of disease management and projected staff numbers for the coming harvest.

Luis Pincol comes down the neck on his way to his first open class win at the Peninsula Duvauchelle Shears last weekend. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Luis Pincol is living his dream.

Staff members Caitlin Gordon (left) and Jack Sinnamon do a final check on cherries bound for export, at the Three Kings Cherries packhouse in Clyde. PHOTOS: TRACIE BARRETT Central Otago stonefruit growers are thankful for mainly clear, sunny days so far this year, but are still facing problems finding enough staff to pick and pack.

Waimate teacher and black and coloured sheep breeder Stuart Albrey at home on his farm. PHOTO: SALLY RAE Fancy a black sheep in the family?

Fynn Mitchell moves a flock of sheep through a new underpass on his family farm near Lumsden. PHOTO: MICHELLE MITCHELL The major investment of building a stock underpass is worth every cent to keep staff and stock safe, a Northern Southland sheep and beef farmer says.

Rabbit shooter Robert Andrews wants the Otago Regional Council to maintain the oat-cooking and processing facility at Galloway, near Alexandra, and make it available to rabbit control contractors. PHOTO: SHAWN MCAVINUE The language of Central Otago rabbit shooter Robert Andrews gets colourful when he talks about the Otago Regional Council and rabbit control.

OmniEye board chairman Colin Brown (left) and chief executive and co-founder Greg Peyroux watch cows being monitored by an OmniEye locomotion camera as the herd leaves the milking platform on Pamu Landsdown dairy farm in South Otago. PHOTO: SHAWN MCAVINUE Dunedin agritech company OmniEye is set for a big year and is aiming to go international.

A two-way race has developed for the Central South Island seat on the board of  Beef + Lamb New Zealand. Standing for the directorship are Milton’s Simon Davies and Timaru incumbent Nicky Hyslop, who is seeking re-election after retiring by rotation after completing her three-year term. Voting papers will be posted next month for the March 18 election. To be eligible to vote, a livestock farmer must have owned at least 250 sheep, or 50 beef cattle, or 100 dairy cattle, at the end of last June. Central Rural Life posed a series of questions to each candidate ...  

On their farm in Clinton are (from left) Elaine McKenzie and her granddaughter Eve (14), son Scott, husband Colin, and son Ryan. PHOTOS: SHAWN MCAVINUE There’s no I in team and no A in McKenzie.

Three-year-old trophy sire 18314 fetched the top price of $70,000 at the 2022 Black Forest Park sire sale in Woodside last week. PHOTOS: SHAWN MCAVINUE A southern stag with "wow factor" has fetched the highest price in New Zealand for a velvet trophy sire.

Shear 4 Blair 24-hour Shear-a-thon event manager Jared Manihera (left) and Wohelo Station owner Nelson Hancox prepare for the fundraiser in West Otago. PHOTO: SHAWN MCAVINUE The rural sector is uniting again to help those battling cancer in the South.

PHOTO: SHAWN MCAVINUE Cancer survivor Shaun Bradley is set to shear sheep to help Southerners battling the disease. Shawn McAvinue catches up with the West Otago farm manager as he prepares for some hard mahi on Waitangi weekend. 

Former teacher Katrina Hunter is loving her new lifestyle at The Huts, Tokarahi. PHOTO: ASHLEY SMYTH Katrina Hunter’s career path has switched gears from teaching in the Maniototo, to accommodating cyclists on the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail.

Favourable weather and strong meat prices mean there is plenty of optimism ahead of this month’s Hawarden ewe fair.

Stewart family trio Mark, Stacey and TJ in their free-stall barn, which is allowing them to remain on track with dairy production this season despite suffering pasture loss during floods last year in Mid Canterbury. PHOTO SUPPLIED A free-stall barn, and the support of their community, has helped a Greenstreet dairy farming family sustain production despite the flow-on effects suffered after the worst flooding event in 200 years.

Canterbury farmers are starting to get uneasy about rising agri-chemical and fertiliser prices.