Amuri Irrigation Company

04/08/2026

Nigel Gardiner has spent more than a decade planting natives along Dry Creek at The Triangle, and it is paying off. Shorter toetoe and flax plantings under the pivots now shelter stock without giving up ground, and old drained seepage areas are wetland again.

Great work Nigel! Read the full story:
https://www.aicprojects.nz/nigel-gardiner

22/07/2026

Congratulations to Ben Croft at Windale Dairy, winner of the DairyNZ Sustainability and Stewardship Award at the Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Fewer cows, more milk, lower costs — well worth a read!

In this edition of NZ Dairy, It has been a year of extraordinary growth for Nicole and Kevin Oppert. The Ngawaro-based dairy couple have added a new farm to their partnership, trialled cutting-edge calf technology, taken on a new lease block and completed a prestigious industry development programme...

09/07/2026

Last week our team was out collecting eDNA samples from streams and rivers around the Amuri Basin.

So what is eDNA? It's short for environmental DNA. Every fish, insect and plant leaves tiny traces of DNA in the water as they go about their lives. Using a simple kit, we push about a litre of water through a small filter that captures those traces. The sample then goes off to the lab, where they can identify the many species living in and around our waterways.

It's a quick, low cost way to build a picture of the health of our streams and rivers and what's living in them. It also helps us see how the work our farmers are doing to support them.

13/05/2026

Congratulations to the team at WaterForce for being named finalists in the Team & Collaboration Award at the 2026 Primary Industries New Zealand Awards! 👏🎉

We were proud to support them after the way they rolled up their sleeves following last October's severe winds in Canterbury, working around the clock to get water back on for our farmers when it mattered most.

That's the kind of dedication that keeps our rural communities ticking. Best of luck at the awards night in Auckland on 23 June! 🚜💧

𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 ‘𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳’ 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀

From a billion-dollar apple brand to grassroots rural leaders, this year’s Primary Industries New Zealand Awards (PINZ) finalists reflect a sector overflowing with talent.

Three finalists in each of nine categories have just been announced, with the winners to be named at an awards ceremony in Auckland on 23 June.

Respected agricultural commentator Alan Emerson, a judge in multiple PINZ awards, says he was deeply impressed by the calibre of this year’s nominations.

"The standard has always been incredibly high, but this time it feels like it’s gone through the roof.

"In a number of categories, nominations were so strong, they could have been split into two or three further categories and it would still be justified honouring people in each," Emerson says.

"That was particularly so with the new Rural Woman of the Year Award, and in categories such as the Champion and Agricultural Communicator of the Year awards."

The awards night, a highlight of the PINZ Summit at Cordis Hotel on 23-24 June, will celebrate the leaders, producers, scientists, research teams and innovators who shift the dial for farmers and the wider primary sector.

Two awards given out by the Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators have been brought into the fold for the first time this year.

Broadcasters Jamie Mackay and Dom George, along with former Special Agricultural Trade Envoy Hamish Marr, are Agricultural Communicator of the Year finalists.

RNZ journalist Alexa Cook, Riley Kennedy of BusinessDesk, and Richard Rennie and Neal Wallace of Farmers Weekly are in the running for the Excellence in Agricultural Journalism Rongo Award.

Another veteran PINZ Awards judge, Justin Courtney of Dawn Chorus Consulting, says it’s a sound move to incorporate these two awards into the sector celebration.

"We should be recognising the storytellers who shed light on our industry.
"These journalists, communicators and broadcasters also have a real passion for our sector.

"They do a great job passing information back to the farming community and the wider public, so people have a deeper understanding of what makes us tick," Courtney says.

Finalists in the inaugural Rural Woman of the Year Award are Beef + Lamb NZ chair Kate Acland, Federated Farmers national board member Sandra Faulkner, and Sarah Donaldson of the East Coast Rural Support Trust.

Finalists for the Food, Beverage & Fibre Product Award also underline the calibre of this year’s nominations.

Bucking a tradition of importing all of New Zealand’s bird seed requirements, the Webster and Mitchell families of North Otago formed Topflite, building a business from just two hectares of sunflowers into an enterprise growing and supplying 1,600 tonnes of bird and small animal seed each year.

Topflite is up against pioneering blueberry growers, artisanal winemakers and gourmet product innovators Mamaku Blue, and T&G Global’s premium ENVY apple enterprise, the nation’s first billion-dollar apple brand.

Team & Collaboration Award finalists include the WaterForce team, which showed exceptional speed in restoring irrigation infrastructure after severe winds in Canterbury last October.

They’re up against A Lighter Touch, a 13-stakeholder collaboration driving agro-ecological crop protection and other innovations, and Sow the Seed, which secured agricultural and horticultural science as a valid, standalone secondary school subject.

"In a time when around the world people might be struggling to find stories of success, these award nominations show our sector is thriving," Courtney says.

"That’s off the back of a massive effort from people featuring in these nominations for the way they look after the land, the products they put into the market, or the science and research efforts that help drive that progress.

"They’re all a credit to New Zealand."

As is tradition, there are no finalists for the Outstanding Contribution to New Zealand’s Primary Industries Award - but a winner will be revealed on the night.

FULL LIST OF 2026 PINZ AWARD FINALISTS

𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿
Dom George - Rural Exchange (REX)
Hamish Marr - former Special Agricultural Trade Envoy
Jamie Mackay - The Country

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱
Dianne Schumacher - Dairy Companies Association of NZ (DCANZ)
Mike Casey - Rewiring Aotearoa
Neil Bateup - Rural Support Trust

𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱
Ben Purua - Farm Up NZ
Danielle Hovmand - Federated Farmers
James Robertson - Fonterra

𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗥𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗼 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱
Alexa Cook - RNZ
Richard Rennie & Neal Wallace - Farmers Weekly
Riley Kennedy - BusinessDesk

𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 & 𝗙𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱
Topflite
Mamaku Blue
T&G Global

𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 & 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗞𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗸𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮) 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱
Parininihi ki Waitōtara
Gordon Williams - Pamu Landcorp Farming
Pokaiwhenua Catchment Project

𝗥𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿
Kate Acland - Beef + Lamb New Zealand
Sandra Faulkner - Federated Farmers of NZ
Sarah Donaldson - East Coast Rural Support Trust

𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 & 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱
Sow the Seed Advisory & the Horticulture & Agriculture Teachers Association
WaterForce
A Lighter Touch

𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 & 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱
Bioforce
The Sustainable Vegetable Systems project
Prism Earth

29/04/2026

Thanks to Hurunui District Council for sharing this story during Conservation Week.

At Amuri Irrigation, we're proud to support practical, farmer-led environmental work that helps shareholders get the best from their land while also looking after our local waterways, soils, and natural environment.

This work is a great example of what can be achieved when farmers, community groups, councils, and local organisations work together on positive, practical solutions for the Amuri Basin.

Have a read of the story below. 👇

Getting their hands wet

This week is Conservation Week. Here’s a background story about Amuri Irrigation Company (AIC) helping farmers get the most out of their land, naturally.

https://www.hurunui.govt.nz/council/news?item=id:2xx88snsj17q9s7we16b