This week Bryan talks with Professor Jon Hickford of Lincoln University about the government’s science reforms. Jon says he’s optimistic about the plan and hopes it will lead to less bureaucracy, better tech adoption on-farm, and improvements to the commercialisation pipeline.

Federated Farmers vice-president Colin Hurst tells the podcast that the QEII Trust, which will run out of money this year, needs to be properly funded. He says farmers have taken to the scheme, which sees land with high conservation or biodiversity attributes protected.

Senior reporter Richard Rennie gives an update on the Zespri kiwifruit shipment that was lost after mice were discovered in the hold. He also outlines what landowners should know about new maps being released for high-value soils, and Pāmu’s study on how climate change will affect its farms is useful information for all farmers.