Bryan catches up with senior reporter Richard Rennie who has just returned from a trip through Brazil, taking in its arable and beef farming systems. He visited the Mato Grosso state, which is Brazil’s third largest and most productive agricultural state, claiming the bulk of the country’s cattle, corn, cotton and soybean production. Its scale is eye-wateringly vast, accounting for a land area four times that of New Zealand, with half NZ’s population.

Keep an eye out for a special feature on Richard's trip to Brazil on FarmersWeekly.co.nz next week.

He also chats with newly re-elected Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford following last week’s successful Primary Industries Summit. Wayne talks about the federation’s priorities for the coming year.