Word of the day

Duck – a waterbird with a broad blunt bill, short legs, webbed feet, and a waddling gait;  a quick lowering of the head or body;  strong untwilled linen or cotton fabric, used chiefly for casual or work clothes and sails; to lower the head or the body quickly to avoid a blow or so as not to be seen; to avoid.

7/10

7/10 in Stuff’s Biz Quiz

Rural round-up

Salmon farm expansion plans:

Nelson leaders predict major growth for region

Nelson businesses, the Seafood processing union and the city’s mayor are firmly behind NZ King Salmon’s expansion plans saying they will result in increased downstream employment at a time when young people are leaving in droves.

Business owners also say the company is a responsible producer of high quality products wanted by the world and it is “not going to bastardise their own environment”.

City Mayor Aldo Miccio says Nelson backs winners and aquaculture is a new and exciting industry the region needs and wants. . .

More university science funding positve for rural sector:

The Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science says the Government’s new focus on science and technology at the tertiary level is long overdue.

The Government is asking universities and polytechnics to increase their enrolments in science, technology, engineering and maths.

It is to increase funding for those subjects in the Budget this month. . .

Good news for high country with Pastoral Lease ammendment:

After a prolonged battle, including the Minaret case in the Land Valuation Court, New Zealand’s High Country farmers welcome the passing of Crown Pastoral Land (Rent for Pastoral Leases) Amendment Act in Parliament, clarifying that pastoral lease farm rents are to be based on pastoral rather than landscape values.

“Federated Farmers asked the government to make the Pastoral Land Act workable and to give certainty around how rents would be calculated. We are grateful they listened,”Federated Farmers High Country chairperson, Graham Reed says.

“This is not a hand out; it simply means rents are set to reflect High Country farming businesses’ real earning capacity. This amendment allows us to live and work without the spectre of unfair rises simply because of our farms’ locations. That was certainly the intention behind the use of the word “pastoral” in the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998, describing the restricted land use on which valuations should be based. . .

License to operate: A regulatory barrier or market opportunity?

The AGMARDT Agribusiness Breakfast provides an annual forum to discuss issues of national interest to the rural community. This year’s theme is‘License to Operate: a regulatory barrier or market opportunity?’ and includes presentations by Dr Andrew West, Bryce Johnson, Willy Leferink and Graham Stuart.

The AGMARDT Agribusiness Breakfast will be held on Friday the 25th of May on Level 4 of the Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, commencing at 7.30am sharp and will be hosted by AGMARDT’s Chairman Jeff Grant.

“In setting the theme for this year’s AGMARDT Agribusiness Breakfast, we wanted to raise awareness within the farming community of an issue that is going attract increasing attention in the years ahead,”said Mr Grant. . .

Dairy Awards final sells-out:

Nearly 700 people will attend the 2012 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards annual awards dinner, where the winners of the New Zealand Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year, New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year competitions will be announced.

National convenor Chris Keeping says final judging is underway for the 36 finalists representing 12 regions across the country. The finalists converge on Auckland next week for a series of activities and to participate in the final judging component, an interview.

“It’s a really exciting time for the finalists, especially once the pressure of final judging is off. They really enjoy the opportunity to meet each other and spend time together while doing activities out of their comfort zone. It’ll be a time they cherish for years to come.” . . .

Who are risk takers?

Quote of the day:

Christchurch’s immediate problems are far-reaching. English is critical of the planning processes which he says have until recently lacked a strong focus on those who will rebuild the city. “It’s not the planners, it’s investors who will take risks.” Christchurch should make it as easy as possible for outsiders to invest. English finished with a tribute to the people of Christchurch whose stoic attitude he says shifted the whole mood of the country.

Central and local government have roles to play in the Christchurch rebuild.

But the people who will get the city back on its feet are the ones who are prepared to risk their own money in businesses – and they’ll do it without a lot of committee meetings.

Tax and spend won’t work this time

One of the difficulties facing Labour is how to criticise the government’s Presbyterian approach to spending without looking profligate.

As Trans Tasman says:

The difficulty for Labour in railing against the “austerity” of the present Govt is it cannot claim fiscal responsibility if it wants to spend its way back to a new golden age.

The government has set itself a tough goal – getting back into surplus by 2014/15.

No-one is pretending that will be easy. Nor is anyone with any sense thinking that having done that the government elected in 2014 – whatever hue it might be – will have much opportunity for increased spending for some time.

Tax and spend worked for Labour through the noughties, it won’t work this time.

Doing ducks a kindness

Duck shooting opens today.

All over the country a lot of blokes, and some blokesses, have been preparing for this day for weeks – building and provisioning mai mais.

SAFE calls it the season of suffering but Eric Roy reckons it’s an act of kindness.

Hunters kill 20.6% of ducks, the greatest killer is starvation so hunting  saves ducks from a fate worse than death.

Duck shooting might also be good for the environment.

The regional council has been monitoring water and found an E. Coli problem in a stream leaving one farm. It had nothing to do with the stock on the farm – the culprits were the ducks on a dam.

May 5 in history

553 The Second Council of Constantinople began.

1215  Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England.

1260 Kublai Khan became ruler of the Mongol Empire.

1494 Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Jamaica and claimed it for Spain.

1640  King Charles I of England dissolved the Short Parliament.

1762  Russia and Prussia signed the Treaty of St. Petersburg.

1789  In France, the Estates-General convened for the first time since 1614.

1809  Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.

1809 – The Swiss canton of Aargau denied citizenship to Jews.

1818 Karl Marx, German political philosopher was born (d. 1883).

1821  Emperor Napoleon I died in exile on the island of Saint Helena.

1830 John Batterson Stetson, American hat manufacturer was born (d. 1906).

1833 James Busby became New Zealand’s official British resident.

1835 The first railway in continental Europe opened between Brusselsand Mechelen.

1862  Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halted a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.

1864 American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness began in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.

1864 Nellie Bly, American journalist and writer was born  (d. 1922).

1865  In North Bend, Ohio, the first train robbery in the United States took place.

1866  Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York.

1877  Indian Wars: Sitting Bull led his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.

1886  The Bay View Tragedy: A militia fired into a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing seven.

1891 The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) had its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.

1904  Cy Young of the Boston Americans threw the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.

1914 Tyrone Power, American actor was born (d. 1958).

1916 U.S. marines invaded the Dominican Republic.

1919 Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek dictator was born (d. 1999).

1921 Coco Chanel introduced Chanel No. 5.

1925  Scopes Trial: serving of an arrest warrant on John T. Scopes for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.

1925  The government of South Africa declared Afrikaans an official language.

1936  Italian troops occupied Addis Ababa.

1940  World War II: Norwegian refugees formed a government-in-exile in London

1941  Emperor Haile Selassie returned to Addis Ababa; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots’ Victory Day.

1942 Tammy Wynette, American musician was born (d. 1998).

1943 Michael Palin, British writer, actor, and comedian, was born.

1944 John Rhys-Davies, English-born Welsh actor was born.

1945  World War II: Canadian and UK troops liberated the Netherlands and Denmark from Nazi occupation.

1945 – World War II: Prague uprising against German occupying forces in Czechoslovakia.

1945 – World War II: US Army troops liberated the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria

1945 – World War II: Admiral Karl Dönitz, President of Germany after Hitler’s death, ordered all German U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.

1948  Bill Ward, British drummer (Black Sabbath) was born.

1949 The Treaty of London established the Council of Europe in Strasbourg as the first European institution working for European integration.

1950 Bhumibol Adulyadej crowned himself King Rama IX of Thailand.

1950 Mary Hopkin, Welsh singer, was born.

1955 West Germany gained full sovereignty.

1961 The Mercury programme: Mercury-Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into outer space making a sub-orbital flight of 15 minutes.

1964 The Council of Europe declared May 5 as Europe Day.

1980 Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service stormed the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege.

1981 Bobby Sands died in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27.

1987  Iran-Contra affair: start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States of America

1991 Mt Pleasant riots broke out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man.

1994  The signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively froze the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

2005  Tony Blair’s Labour Party was elected for a third consecutive term.

2006 The government of Sudan signed an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army.

2007  Kenya Airways Flight KQ 507 crashed in Cameroon.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia