Farming

Held at the South Pacific Hotel in Auckland, the competition was open to all members of the Young Farmers’ Club. The inaugural winner was Gary Frazer from Swannanoa, near Christchurch. The contest has become an established part of the farming calendar.

For over fifty years Country calendar has introduced half an hour of rural information presented in a way that was accessible to ‘townies’

First held at the Masterton War Memorial Stadium in 1961, the Golden Shears competition has become the iconic event for the shearing and wool-handling industry in New Zealand.

In the 1890s the Liberal government, and especially Minister of Lands John McKenzie, was determined to ‘burst up’ large landholdings for settlement by prospective small farmers, who were among its key supporters. The first property purchased under this policy was the 34,300-ha Cheviot Estate in North Canterbury.

From a dairy factory at Pukekura, Waikato, Henry Reynolds launched Anchor butter. The brand name, allegedly inspired by a tattoo on the arm of one of his workers, would become one of this country’s best-known trademarks.

Agricultural and pastoral shows celebrating excellence in agriculture and animal husbandry became annual events in communities around New Zealand.

The missionary John Butler turned New Zealand's first furrow at Kerikeri, writing: ‘I trust that this day will be remembered with gratitude, and its anniversary kept by ages yet unborn.’

During his second voisit to New Zealand in 1773, James Cook released a ewe and a ram in Queen Charlotte Sound. They survived only a few days – an inauspicious start to this country’s long association with sheep.