In Focus this week:

• Senior reporter Richard Rennie has the latest on the bird flu strain that’s now infecting dairy herds in the United States. Researchers here warn that while we’re an isolated nation, migratory birds still pose a threat to our industry too.

• Wool Impact chief executive Andy Caughey has just returned from the International Wool Textile organisation conference in Adelaide. He tells Bryan how New Zealand’s strong wool story is being well received by international brands and buyers and also touches on some of the new innovations being discovered to create more value for farmers.

• AgriZero head of strategy and investment Ruth Leary is back from a series of agritech conferences in San Francisco. She tells Bryan that our work on ruminant methane has the world watching and farmers should be proud of the progress they’ve made. 

Federated Farmers chief executive Terry Copeland gives a run-down on the latest Rabobank/Federated Farmers farm salary report, which shows that, since the 2022 survey, the average salary for a farm worker has increased by $7480 to $71,411.