As the nights draw in, it’s hard to believe we’re almost half-way through 2025 – but what a month May has been!
It got off to a great start with the 2025 Southern AgriTech and Innovation Day. We had another fantastic day packed with fresh ideas, cutting-edge tech and practical insights to help farmers and rural professionals stay ahead of the curve.
Now in its second year, the event brought together a fantastic mix of speakers, exhibitors and participants, all keen to explore the future of farming. Special thanks to all our guest speakers, including David Lamb and Mahgol Yousefidashliboroun, who shared their knowledge and sparked valuable conversations throughout the day.
We’re especially grateful to our sponsors. Your support made it possible to deliver an awesome event and create a space for learning, connection and action. Thanks also to our exhibitors and Innovation Station participants for showcasing tools and ideas that are already making a difference on the ground.
To everyone who attended and contributed, thank you! Your energy, questions and feedback help shape what’s next.
You can check out all the presentations and bios here.
Winner!
Congratulations to Nicole Sutton who was the winner of our Agritech Day survey (a $60 Whitcoulls voucher). Enjoy your prize!
Catchment Group project funding available
The Gyre organisation help make it easy for Catchment Groups to connect with nature investors to access funding for projects that restore and protect the environment. They can list your projects on their website, viewable to people who help fund projects. They’ve tried to make this as easy and accessible as possible, so worth a look. You can find out more at their website.
Take part in the Great South community tourism survey
Agritourism is on the lips of many in Southland (see the Agritourism workshop article below) and Great South is keen to hear community views on tourism.
They’re keen to know what the people of Murihiku Southland want for the future of tourism and how tourism could or should be developed, to benefit all communities across the region. Check out the details here or click here to take the survey.
Could you be award winning?
Have you considered entering the Excellence in Primary Industry category in the 2025 Datagrid Southland Business Excellence Awards. These awards are only every two years, so it’s a great opportunity to let the region know about the great work you do.
More details can be found here and applications close on 15 June. The Chamber team have offered to help with your application or answer any questions. You can connect by emailing events@southlandchamber.co.nz or calling 03 218 7188.
Pole planting support
Environment Southland has 50 pole sleeves to give away to farmers in Southland each winter (up to 1000 sleeves in total each year). Both wool and plastic sleeves are available. They also have specially made pole bars to help with planting available for loan.
Environment Southland’s land sustainability team is available at no additional cost (services covered by your rates) for further farm specific advice.
Waikawa Catchment Group sediment reduction project update
The Waikawa Catchment Group has been hard at work on a major sediment reduction project, funded by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and supported by Environment Southland.
Supported by technical expert Craig Simpson, and project manager Poppy Hardie, seven sub-project farmers have rapidly turned ideas into action — with diggers on-site from February/March — creating practical, real-life case studies for reducing sediment loss across the catchment.
This project builds on earlier work completed with Land and Water Science, which helped identify areas of high erosion risk in the Waikawa Catchment. The Group’s focus has been on finding smart ways to “slow the flow” of water and sediment before it reaches the Waikawa River — improving water quality and helping to ease flood pressures. A big thanks also to Craig Simpson, who has provided invaluable technical support.
Keep an eye out for more information about the upcoming Field Day on 27 June, where the Group will showcase the work and lessons from these on-farm sediment reduction projects.
In addition to this, the Waikawa Catchment Group recently hosted a community planting day along Manse Road, where native species were planted to support waterway health and biodiversity. This project was made possible thanks to funding from the Mataura Catchment Liaison Committee. A huge thank you to Daryl Stratford and Jesse Bythell for the behind-the-scenes work that brought this project to life — it's great to see local collaboration turning into meaningful action on the ground.
Wards' Wetland Planting Day at Gore
The Gore Catchment Group’s project at the Wards’ farm is going from strength to strength! A massive thank you goes to the Wards Family for their dedication and the incredible amount of work they’ve put into the project so far.
Originally envisioned as a low-cost wetland, with funding from NZ Landcare Trust and Westpac, the project has grown well beyond its initial plans. What began as a single demonstration wetland has expanded into three ponds and a flax swamp, now covering a total of five hectares — creating a thriving habitat for native wildlife, and an inspiring case study for other local landowners. Thanks also to Southland Fish & Game for their support. And to FMG, Fonterra, Gore Catchment Group, Balance and all the people who came along to help planting.
A highlight was the community planting day, where more than 400 native plants were put in the ground with the help of an enthusiastic team of supporters. We were thrilled to be joined by staff from NZ Landcare Trust and Westpac, whose hands-on support helped bring this wetland to life.
Agritourism Workshops in Tokanui and Lumsden
Two recent events brought together local farmers and tourism experts to explore the exciting opportunities of agritourism as a way to diversify farm businesses.
Marijke Dunselman from AgriTourismNZ and Tom O’Brien from Welcome Rock Trails delivered engaging workshops on how to establish and grow profitable agritourism ventures, current trends in agritourism, different business models, visitor statistics and insights specific to Southland. We also heard a wonderfully down-to-earth case study discussion with Tom, who shared the journey of building Welcome Rock into a unique and successful destination.
A huge thank you to Marijke for making the trip south and generously sharing her wealth of knowledge and experience. Her practical advice and passion for rural tourism left attendees inspired and full of ideas.
Fantastic helpers drive Lower Oreti stream health monitoring
Rob and Stacey from ES help Eliza check water clarity.
It took almost two years to come together, but thanks to Rob, Stacey, Charlie and Eliza and three awesome landowners, Lower Oreti have finally started their stream health monitoring. They chose three sites in the upper catchment, and looked at clarity, macroinvertebrates, eDNA, and completed a SHMAK form with Rapid Habitat Assessment.
Many thanks to DairyNZ (especially Justin Kitto) for giving us the eDNA kits and paying for the analysis, Rob Bird from Environment Southland and Stacey, Eliza and Charlie Stuart for their fieldwork and enthusiasm. The kits are now at Wilderlab for analysis, and we are excited to see what info we get back. Next year the group are planning to do three more stream health assessments in the lower catchment, and then they can redo whenever they need to in 5, 10, 15 years to see how waterway health has changed.
Mid Oreti members go bush!
Mid Oreti had a beautiful evening to go up to the AB Lime bush block Motu Ngahere and collect some native seeds and learn how to prep, sow and look after them.
We also had an unexpected bonus farm tour across the top of the farm. Ainsley was well kitted out with paper party loot bags, which were labelled up with everyone’s precious seeds to take home. It wasn’t the best year for seeds in the bush, but Brad (Biodiversity Ranger at AB Lime) showed us how to prepare and sow them all to ensure the best survival, and then we rolled into our monthly native plant nursery session. The team tackled planting out the 100s of kowhai seedlings that Vinnie and Carla from Carvin Lodge Kennels and Cattery had dropped off.
We really appreciate getting wonderful donations like this, and the group is always happy to rehome pots, plant protectors and anything else that can help locals and their planting projects.
Once again huge thanks to Brad, Gabby and Ainsley from AB Lime for sharing their awesome knowledge and skills and driving us around the farm. It really was a terrific view!
Waihopai Catchment Group launch their water testing ‘waka’
The ‘waka’ deployed.
Both of Waihopai Catchment Group’s real time water quality monitoring AquaWatch waka are out in action on local streams.
The Group have wanted to know how healthy their waterways are and were excited when Aquawatch approached them to loan them two units for a couple of months. They look like a boat with five sensors on its hull, which provide real-time data on key water quality indicators - dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature, pH, and conductivity.
The Group can access the real time data online. The waka can be used in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and coastal waters, and the data can help monitor changes in water quality over time, identify pollution sources, and track the effectiveness of remediation efforts. They were pretty easy to install, and we just need to check them each week to keep them weed and debris free.
The Group also did two parachute eDNA tests thanks to DairyNZ’s Justin Kitto. They also got some best practice advice on winter grazing from Keith Finlayson from Environment Southland, and some advice from Jess and Matt from Rabobank on the current banking environment and why doing monitoring like this can be useful.
Huge thanks to Eoin, Jock and Bob who got them in the water as part of a fun local field day on waterway health, Jess and Matt from Rabobank for a delicious BBQ lunch, and to the Morton Mains Community Centre which was a great venue.
Waiau Catchment Project – Soil Mapping Underway!
The Waiau Catchment Project is off to a great start, with soil pits being dug across the catchment, and thanks to a good run of weather it's looking promising we'll get them all dug in the nick of time. The Te Anau Basin, Orauea, and Lower Waiau Catchment Groups are working alongside Land and Water Science to create high-resolution soil maps that support smarter farming and some sustainable outcomes.
This farmer-led project, will get new maps in the hands of those who need them, helping to optimise fertiliser use, boost productivity, and support sustainability at the paddock scale.
Want to stay in the loop? You can follow us on Facebook, visit our page or mail us on waiaucatchmentproject@gmail.com
Mini Forest Movement Native Plant Nursery drop-in session
3 June (first Tuesday of every month), 4pm – 6pm
AB Lime Nursery, 10 Bend Road, Winton
All welcome to come to our monthly native plant growing working-bee evenings at the AB Lime Nursery. Your help will go toward growing plants for the Mid Oreti Mini Forest Movement Project, which provides native plants to the local community and landowners for their planting projects. Training is provided and all ages welcome! Stay for as little or as long as you like.
Three Rivers Catchment Group AGM
4 June, 6pm (followed by meal)
Edendale pub, 14 Ferry Road, Edendale
Guest Speaker: Murray Wards, speaking about the Gore Catchment Group and Wards' wetland.
Please RSVP for catering purposes to Tessa - tessa@thrivingsouthland.co.nz or 021 400 431.
Waimea Field Day – Balfour Catchment Group
16 June, 11.30am – 2pm (starting with lunch)
Craig Collins, 143 Steffan Road, Balfour
Join the Balfour Catchment Group, Thriving Southland and DairyNZ for an interactive field day visiting two farms to learn about recent reconstruction of wetlands. Hear from local farmers, Brendan Stevens, Craig Collins and Ian and Sandra Orr about their experience of developing wetlands, alongside DairyNZ’s Justin Kitto and Ron Pellow.
Sediment Solutions Field Day – Waikawa Catchment Group
27 June, from 1pm (afternoon tea provided)
770-813 Niagara Tokanui Highway (deer gates)
Join us to hear real examples of earthworks and flow control structures, and from farmers involved in sediment reduction projects. Please dress warmly and bring sturdy footwear, 4WDs preferred.
Ever wondered what happened to the old freezing works building down in Bluff?
July – More details coming soon.
Heard of Ocean Beach? From commercial pāua, whitebait and seaweed farming, to distilling gin and tackling climate change with cutting-edge seaweed tech that helps reduce methane emissions – it’s all happening right on our back door step, down at Bluff. Ocean Beach is leading the way with sustainable, land-based aquaculture and agricultural solutions that are turning heads.
We’ve got a few Catchment Groups keen to head down for a look, so we’re working with the team at Ocean Beach to lock in a time and date.
If you’re curious and would like to come along – let us know and we’ll keep you in the loop as plans, come together. There’ll be a small cost to cover the team’s time and resources, and numbers will be limited – so flick us a message if you're keen!
Check out more about Ocean Beach here: www.oceanbeach.nz
Have a great June,
Ngā mihi
Richard Kyte (Thriving Southland Project Lead) and the Thriving Southland Team
