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Blue Shed Diary, a weekly podcast brought to you by PGG Wrightson, features news and information for, and about, New Zealand's rural communities.
Like the blue sheds dotting New Zealand's landscape, the Blue Shed Diary is the go-to resource for our farmers and growers. We tackle important issues, explore innovations, showcase best practices, investigate how policies made in the cities impact rural communities, and offer advice on everything from sustainability to animal health.
The Blue Shed Diary is a conversation about the people and the land, come be a part of the conversation!
Like the blue sheds dotting New Zealand's landscape, the Blue Shed Diary is the go-to resource for our farmers and growers. We tackle important issues, explore innovations, showcase best practices, investigate how policies made in the cities impact rural communities, and offer advice on everything from sustainability to animal health.
The Blue Shed Diary is a conversation about the people and the land, come be a part of the conversation!
63 Episodes
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Each summer, PGG Wrightson has a selection of university students join us for a 10-week paid internship. We pair them with mentors, provide hands-on experience in field trials, put them in our stores, send them off with our livestock and wool teams, or have them join our Research & Development teams. At the end of the internship – we want them walking away with a better understanding of the primary sector. For the very first time, and because our host, Milton Munro runs the programme, our interns have an additional test – aconversation on the podcast.Meet the future of the primary sector:Bruno MasonCameron WalkerJesica AcharyaLily ShortusLachlan Walter
The ocean is not generally the first thing you think of when you think of farming in New Zealand, but one organisation is looking to change that. Surfing for Farmers is all about helping farmers find the perfect break—to get away from the hard work of farm life and have a bit of fun on a surfboard with their fellow farmers, rural families, and industry professionals. Joining the conversation for the inaugural From the Field segment is Dom Huxley, General Manager of Surfing for Farmers.You can support the incredible work of Surfing for Farmers though PGG Wrightson's, Good Shirts for Good Sorts! Where a portion of your purchase of select Swanndri shirts is donated to this great cause! Good Shirts for Good Sorts | Supporting Surfing for Farmers | PGG Wrightson
Glyphosate, or 'Round Up' as it commonly known, is one of the world's most widely used herbicides. It’s been approved for use in New Zealand since the 1970's, but in recent years its safety has been called into question here and abroad. Six months ago, the New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), the authority charged with looking into the safety and efficacy of our agrichemicals, declined to review the approval of Glyphosate saying there are no grounds ornew evidence for a review. Joining the conversation to discuss this decision and the safety of Glyphosate is the EPA's manager for Hazardous Substances Reassessments, Dr Shaun Presow.
Summer is one of the busiest times of the year for farmers and growers. Not only do you have a lot of jobs on the farm, but you also may want to squeeze in some time for relaxing, too! So, it is understandable if you're tempted to cut a few corners to get the job done.But accidents have consequences—from lost revenue to lost lives—so prevention is key! Working to improve health and safety in the primary sector is Safer Farms. Joining the conversation now is Safer Farms Chair, Lindy Nelson.
Feral cats are taking a toll on New Zealand farms by killing native wildlife and spreading disease. Toxoplasmosis is a parasite that needs a cat's intestines to complete its life cycle and contaminates the soil and water. It can infect people, livestock, even dolphins. With millions of feral cats roaming New Zealand, the threat is everywhere -- and our farmers are feeling the pain. What can we do about it?Joining the conversation is Richard Dawkins. He is the National Meet & Wool Chairman for the Federated Farmers and runs a sheep, beef, and viticulture farm in Marlborough.
By the end of March 2026, the nation's 3G network will be gone. Bit by bit, region by region, One NZ, Spark, and 2Degrees are shutting down their networks. While few in the urban centres will even notice, many rural communities will feel the pain. Joining the conversation to discuss 3G's demise and how to prepare for it is CEO of TUANZ (Tech Users Association of NZ) Craig Young.
For stories for and about New Zealand women who work the land, look no further than Shepherdess magazine. Each season, the publication delves into the lives of provincial women who play a unique role on their farms and in their communities. Six years ago, Kristy McGregor started the Shepherdess Instagram page to bridge the isolation gap that many in the primary sector feel. Now, 24-editions later, the magazine is celebrating its 5th anniversary and is fully entrenched in the urban and rural landscape. Joining the conversation is its creator, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief Kristy McGregor. She lives with her partner and three children on a dairy farm in Manakau. Besides being a busy mum, magazine publisher, and more -- Kristy is also finalising the plans for The Shepherdess Muster. The three-day festival dedicated to celebrating the lives of rural women coming this March.
Our horticulture industry reached a new milestone this year - nearly $8.5 BILLION in exports. An impressive feat considering a decade ago the sector had a major problem on its hands. Resistance. The sector's response? Lean in. With consumers wanting sustainably grown food free from as many ag-chem products as possible, and willing to pay a premium, the industry decided collaboration would be a better idea. Working across horticulture, arable and wine, a new programme was created to support growers as they shifted away from agri-chemicals to biologicals and integrated pest management. Together, they created 'A Lighter Touch' programme - a seven-year, $27 million programme funded by government and industry. Now, five years in, A Lighter Touch is seeing incredible results. Joining the conversation is Programme Director Livia Esterhazy.
An orchard in Otago is doing things a little differently by ditching the diesel vehicles and machinery, installing solar panels, and adding an adopt-a-tree programme. Forest Lodge Orchard near Cromwell is better known by the name, Electric Cherry - a name inspired by their journey to become New Zealand's first certified fossil free cherry orchard. For Mike Casey, his wife Rebecca and partners Euan and Rachel White, this has been an incredible adventure. Together, they have gone from knowing nothing about growing cherries to having over 9,000 trees in the ground and a determination to show others that going electric is better for the bottom line and environment.
Many farmers and growers, looking to diversify their income, are exploring agritourism. From sleeping huts and hunting to walking trails and cheese making, more and more in the primary sector are seeing how they can introduce tourism into their operation. But is getting into agritourism as simple as throwing up a sleeping hut on the back blocks and putting up a website?In a word: No. One woman is helping our primary producers unlock their tourism potential: Marijke Dunselman, leader of the industry body Agritourism New Zealand joins the conversation.
In April 2025, the government undertook a review into how our farm plastics are recycled, and Environment Minister Penny Simmonds walked us through the proposal to merge the existing voluntary schemes, Agrecovery and Plasback, into a single national system. Now, after industry feedback, the national system has the green light, and the Minister joins the Blue Shed Diary once again to give us all the details.
In July, the EPA aka Environmental Protection Authority announced a ban on the insecticide – chlorpyrifos. It has been the primary weapon against pests like grass grub, nysius, and Argentine Stem weevil but it was also dangerous to everything and everyone around it. So, what can farmers and growers do for pest control now that Chlorpyrifos is banned. For those answers we turn toPGG Wrightson Technical Specialist for Agronomy Joseph Watts.
PGG Wrightson has a long-standing commitment to Research & Development. We run some 70 scientific trials around the country each year. So, when a very unique plot of land – the Geelan Family Trust Research Station in Hastings – becameavailable, we leapt at the opportunity to have our very own dedicated R&D site. Joining the conversation is the man running the new PGG Wrightson Research & Development Station, Extension Advisor Marcus Fitzsimmons.
Let's talk about poo. Specifically, sheep poo and why our next guest is asking farmers to send it in the mail. Why?Facial Eczema. To get an understanding of how FE impacts New Zealand, the woman behind this study is principal scientist at Beef & Lamb NZ, Dr Cara Brosnahan.
It’s not often we talk about bug guts or meet people interested in getting squashed flies and bug splatters through the mail, but Richard and Aimme want to know all about it. University of Auckland Geneticists, Dr Aimee van der Reis and Dr Richard O’Rorke, are using the dead bugs left on your license plate to unlock clues about insect biodiversity inAotearoa New Zealand. This citizen scientist project relies on Kiwis driving about the motu and the dead bugs they collect on their licence plates.
Nearly half of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture – methane and nitrous oxide. On a strictly per capita basis, we have the highest methane emissions in the world. In 2019, as part of the zero-carbon act, targets were set to reduce these biogenic methane emissions by 24 to 27 percent by the year 2050, but now the Government has announced a reduction in those targets to 14 to 24 percent. Many from the primary industry welcomed this change, while others say these new lower targets will make it harder for New Zealand to meet its climate change obligations andpotentially affect the sector’s trading viability internationally. Given the impact these decisions have on the primary sector, the Blue Shed Diary is getting perspectives from two different professors.Joining the conversation is James Renwick, Professor of Physical Geography at Victoria University Wellington and Climate Change Commissioner from 2019 to 2024. Heis one of the voices raising concerns about the Government's latest move.
A landmark climate deal was struck in 2019 – the bipartisan legislation ‘Climate Change Response Act’ or Zero Carbon Act – which sets a legal framework for New Zealand to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Biogenic methane was the exception – with its targets set for a 24 to 47 percent reduction. In October, the Government announced they are reducing those methane targets to 14 to 24 percent. Federated Farmers and others in the primary industry welcomed the policy, while others say this will not only make it harder for New Zealand to meet its climate change obligations but also threatens the primary sector’s ability to trade internationally. Given the impact these decisions will have on the primary sector, the Blue Shed Diary is getting perspectives from two different professors. Joining the conversation is David Frame, Professor of Physics at the University of Canterbury and former head of the New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute.
PGG Wrightson recently published our Sustainability Report and Climate Statement in which we lay out the activities of PGG Wrightson over the last year to become more sustainable and reduce our climate impact. At the helm of this report and PGG Wrightson’s Sustainability Programme is ourSustainability Manager, Michael Anderson. He joins the conversation now.
Agronomists play a huge role in the success of crops for farmers and growers. But what you may not know is there is no qualification requirement for agronomists. None. Meanwhile, overseas anyone calling themselves an agronomist must hold a recognised qualification. PGG Wrightson decided to do something about this and worked with Primary ITO to launch the very first, NZQA-approved programme and qualification. The first tranche of eight students is currently enrolled. Joining the conversation is Fruitfed Supplies Technical Team Specialist for Subtropicals – Elaine Gould.
PGG Wrightson’s history extends all the way back to the 1840's when Nathaniel Levin established Levin & Co in Wellington. Since then, the company we now know has had many names and we would be surprised if there is a single farmer orgrower in New Zealand’s history who has not interacted with some form of PGG Wrightson. Big changes and consolidations in the 1990s set the stage for the PGG Wrightson of today. In 2005, Pyne Gould Guinness merged with Wrightson Ltd to become PGW. This October, we are celebrating our 20th birthday and 20 years of supporting and supplying our primary sectors.Joining the conversation and to help us to celebrate this momentous occasion is PGG Wrightson Chief ExecutiveStephen Guerin.
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