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3 car pile up Inexperienced winter drivers hit the skids and didn't realise the plunge pool at the end was empty.

Housing and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. Photo: RNZ The government will take back power from local councils if their decisions are going to negatively impact economic growth, development or employment.

The price of butter butter is up 51.2 percent annually to $8.42 per 500g. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES By Susan Edmunds of RNZ

President Trump aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from the G7 summit in Banff, Canada. Photo: Getty Images President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for Iran's "unconditional surrender" and warned that US patience was wearing thin, but said there was no intention to kill Iran's leader "for now", as the Israel-Iran air war raged for a fifth day.

It is a slippery start for many Southerners this morning after temperatures plummeted well into the negatives overnight. 

Prof Richard Green, left, and Dr Sam Schofield with the new chainsaw drone they’ve developed as part of a University of Canterbury Vision research team project. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED A chainsaw drone developed by a University of Canterbury team to cut wrist-size branches in hazardous areas may be commercialised soon.

New Zealand beef production for the first three months of this calendar year hit around the 200,000 tonne mark, a Rabobank report shows. PHOTO: ODT FILES New Zealand beef and milk demand was steady over the first quarter of the year but uncertainty looms with the results of export tariffs to the United States and knock-on effects from the flurry of international agreements being negotiated with the Trump administration yet to be factored in to reports.

A wild white-tail deer shelters in Stewart Island bush. ZIP operations director Duncan Kay said progress in the deer repellent trial being done on the island had been slowed due to possums. Photos: Stephen Jaquiery Possums are interfering with a trial to find out if white-tail deer avoid bait laced with a deer repellent.

The sun sets over the Hump Ridge Track, which weaves through native forest, sub-alpine ridges and beaches, and includes the 125m Percy Burn viaduct, built in 1923. PHOTO: DAYLE WRIGHT & ANTONY SPROULL One thousand additional walkers have trekked the Hump Ridge Track since it entered the international stage of the world’s great walks a year ago.

Waitaki Valley winegrower Grant Taylor takes a break at the Grants Road Vineyard area in Otiake. PHOTO: SUPPLIED The Waitaki Winegrowers Association is calling on the Waitaki District Council to urgently establish a designated winegrowing protection zone in the proposed district plan, warning that the region’s internationally recognised viticulture is at risk from incompatible land use.

There has been plenty of interest but the dream to do something with a piece of land in Heriot remains on the table. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY There has been plenty of interest but the dream to do something with a piece of land in Heriot remains on the table.

Organic Solutions director and co-founder James Porteous packs a truck with organic vegetables in 2021. PHOTO: SHAWN MCAVINUE A North Otago organic vegetable growing business, recently approached to appear on Country Calendar, has gone into voluntary liquidation owing more than $1million, while a subsidiary company owes more than $300,000.

St Hilda’s Collegiate students (from left) Ellie Templeton, Meg Miller, Greer Egan and Emi Martin have developed a natural leather conditioner. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH They live together, go to school together and now they are in business together — naturally.

Cherry growers Mike Casey and Euan White have been doing donuts in the paddock in their newly converted electric Toyota Hilux ute at Forest Lodge Orchard near Cromwell. PHOTO SUPPLIED A Central Otago cherry grower is keen to put his new electric Toyota Hilux ute "to the test" to see how it compares with the original diesel workhorse.

Tertiary Extracts Ōtautahi research and development head Dr Alisa Roddick-Lanzilotta and chief scientific officer Dr Rob Kelly.The company extracts protein from sheepskins to make mainly health benefit and nutrition ingredients and is seeking investor capital to grow export sales. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED A Christchurch biotech company extracting an innovative protein from sheepskins to make mainly health benefit and nutrition ingredients for export markets is about to launch a capital raise.

West Otago farmer Clark Scott looks at his black Limousin heifer which won the hoof class between 271kg and 320kg at the Otago-Southland Hoof and Hook Beef Competition. PHOTO: SHAWN MCAVINUE Taieri farmer Geoff Edgar won both of the top prizes at the recent 2025 Otago-Southland Hoof and Hook Beef Competition.

Angus bull Fossil Creek Urban U032 AB sold for $71,000 in North Otago last week. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Former Fossil Creek Angus owner Rose Sanderson reckons her late husband Neil would be ecstatic with a bull sale result in North Otago last week that included a record top price for the stud of $71,000. 

PHOTO: SHAWN MCAVINUE Andrew and Nikita Gerritsen have bought their first dairy farm.

PHOTO: SUPPLIED Beef + Lamb New Zealand research shows prices for farm inputs fell  0.6% in the year to March.