Word of the day

Omniferous – bearing, carrying, or consisting of all things, or many kinds or sorts of things; all-bearing; producing all kinds.

Rural round-up

Experienced Southland farmers pave the way for young talent:

A group of leading Southland farmers have identified the pressing need to develop young farming talent in order to secure a sustainable future for the region’s agricultural industry, as well as New Zealand’s farming sector overall.

The issue of attracting and retaining young people in farming and agriculture has seen central Southland dairy farmer Anita de Wolde join with other local farmers to develop the ‘Ag Pathways’ network.

These farmers form Rabobank’s Southland Client Council, who collectively recognise that one of the most pressing needs for the region is drawing talented young people to the agricultural industry. . .

 

Showing Ayrshire cattle fine hobby – Sally Rae:

Bruce Eade doesn’t go fishing or own a boat.

Instead, the West Otago dairy farmer’s hobby is showing the family’s Ayrshire cattle, a breed he has been involved with all his life.

Mr Eade (35) was presented with an achiever award at Ayrshire New Zealand’s annual conference in Invercargill, along with Kelly Allison, who farms on the Taieri. . .

Not the GDT, but the DIRA – Andrew Hoggard:

I imagine everyone will be assuming this article is going to be about the falls in the Global Dairy Trade, and potential downgrade to come of the Fonterra farmgate milkprice.

But honestly, I have not only been talking about this for the past year, I have also been living it as well.  I’ve been constantly redoing budgets and thinking about strategies, because as some people seem to forget,  I’m a dairy farmer second – family comes first, and then a farmer politician third.

So, I would much rather talk about something slightly different. . .

August a peak period for farm injuries:

Farmers are being reminded of the risks posed by livestock and vehicles during calving as historically the number of injuries on dairy farms rocket up in August.

Although there are relatively few incidents causing injuries on farms in June, this number doubles in July and then more than doubles again in August. Dairy farmers in particular are more likely to be injured by cows in August than in any time of the year.

The two main injuries are to the lower back and neck, and the two main causes are being kicked, stood on or bitten by animals, or muscular stress from lifting or carrying. . .

 

Paying your Children to work on the farm:

Whether it be feeding the calves after school or docking lambs, working on the family farm is a quintessential rural New Zealand right of passage for many kiwi kids.

On top of helping mum and dad out it’s a great way to learn some practical skills for a future career in the industry, not to mention perfect for saving up a bit of pocket money for those weekend trips to the big city or tertiary study.

For farming parents it’s easy to see the children as a ready source of labour for love, however Crowe Horwath Agri Tax Expert Tony Marshall, himself a former family farm child employee, has a word of caution, suggesting “We may be dealing with family, but there are certain rules that need to be followed when it comes to paying your children for work undertaken on the family farm”. . .

 

New construction signals a global focus for leading Waikato -Manuka Honey producers SummerGlow Apiaries:

Waikato-based SummerGlow Apiaries have taken on a new major construction project at their Waikato property.

The new building will expand SummerGlow Apiaries production capabilities providing more genuine Manuka honey to meet the increasing demands of a global market.

Nestled in the Waikato heartland, Manuka Honey Producers SummerGlow Apiaries have been establishing themselves as the number one global brand for genuine Manuka Honey. . .

How much of a pciky eater are you?

How much of a picky eater are you?

You don’t eat 9 out of 87 things on this list!

You’re definitely NOT a picky eater. Whatever the size, shape, smell, or texture; if it’s food, you’ll put it in your mouth. You probably look down your nose at anyone who IS a picky eater, but look on the bright side — you can eat anything they don’t finish!

One of those I don’t partake was coffee which I stopped drinking when I was pregnant and never started drinking again.

Two of the others were liver and kidneys which aren’t food. They’re awful offal.

Improvement not perfection

In a perfect world all trade would be unhampered by subsidies, tariffs or other costly interventions in between willing buyers and willing sellers.

Those selling goods and services would have more potential customers and consumers would have a better range of quality and price from which to choose.

In this less than perfect world politics, bureaucracy, protectionism and other anti-competitive behaviour get in the way of markets.

Free trade deals are never perfect but they are worth pursuing if they provide sufficient improvements over all for the countries signing up to them.

The many hours and many more dollars spent on Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations aren’t aiming for perfection, but any deals reached will have to deliver significant improvements on existing restrictions and protections to make signing up worth while.

We have a much greater range of goods and services we can buy and sell, and at better prices, as a result of FTAs already established. The TPP could provide even more opportunities.

Our negotiators can’t hope for a perfect deal but they should continue to work towards improvements on what we have now with too many hurdles our businesses have to  leap for access to other Pacific markets.

 

 

Quote of the day

A note of caution: We can never achieve goals that envy sets for us. Looking at your friends and wishing you had what they had is a waste of precious energy. Because we are all unique, what makes another happy may do the opposite for you. That’s why advice is nice but often disappointing when heeded. ― Marcus Buckingham

Hat Tip: Sam Johnson

August 4 in history

1265 Second Barons’ War: Battle of Evesham – the army of Prince Edward defeated the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, killing de Montfort and many of his allies.

1532 the Duchy of Brittany was annexed to the Kingdom of France.

1578 Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir – the Moroccans defeated the Portuguese. King Sebastian of Portugal was killed leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir which initiated a succession crisis in Portugal.

1693 Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon’s invention of Champagne.

1704  War of the Spanish Succession: Gibraltar was captured by an English and Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles.

1789 In France members of the National Constituent Assembly took an oath to end feudalism and abandon their privileges.

1790 A newly passed tariff act created the Revenue Cutter Service (the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard).

1791 The Treaty of Sistova was signed, ending the Ottoman-Habsburg wars.

1792 Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet, was born (d. 1822).

1821  Atkinson & Alexander published the Saturday Evening Post for the first time.

1821 Louis Vuitton, French designer, was born (d. 1892).

1824 Battle of Kos  between Turks and Greeks.

1834  John Venn, English mathematician, was born (d. 1923).

1854 The Hinomaru was established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.

1870 Sir Harry Lauder, Scottish entertainer, was born (d. 1950).

1873  The United States 7th Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, clashed for the first time with the Sioux, one man on each side was killed.

1900 Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, (Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother), was born (d. 2002)

1901 Louis Armstrong, American jazz musician, was born (d. 1971).

1902 The Greenwich foot tunnel under the River Thames opened.

1906  Central Railway Station, Sydney opened.

1914   Germany invaded Belgium. In response, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.

1916  Liberia declared war on Germany.

1923 – The 8.5-km Ōtira tunnel, which pierced the Southern Alps and linked Christchurch with Greymouth, was formally opened by Prime Minister William Massey.

1936  Prime Minister of Greece Ioannis Metaxas suspended parliament and the Constitution and established the 4th of August Regime.

1942 David Lange,  former New Zealand Prime Minister, was born (d. 2005).

1943 Vicente Alberto Álvarez Areces, President of the Government of the Principality of Asturias in Spain, was born.

1944 A tip from a Dutch informer led the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse where they foundd  Anne Frank and her family.

1946 Dominican Republic earthquake of magnitude 8.0;  100  killed and 20,000 left homeless.

1947 The Supreme Court of Japan was established.

1952 Moya Brennan, Irish singer, was born.

1954  The Government of Pakistan approved Qaumi Tarana, written by Hafeez Jullundhry and composed by Ahmed G. Chagla, as the national anthem.

1958  The Billboard Hot 100 was founded.

1960 – Tim Winton, Australian author, was born.

1960 Paul Henry,  New Zealand broadcaster, was born.

1960 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain, was born.

1961  Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was born.

1964  Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney were found dead after disappearing on June 21.

1964  Gulf of Tonkin Incident: United States destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy reported coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.

1965  The Cook Islands gained Self Government.

1965 Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden, was born.

1969  Vietnam War: at the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, U.S. representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuan Thuy began secret peace negotiations.

1974  A bomb exploded in the Italicus Express train at San Benedetto Val di Sambro, Italy, killing 12 people and wounding 22.

1975  The Japanese Red Army took more than 50 hostages at the AIA Building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur.

1984  The African republic Upper Volta changed its name to Burkina Faso.

1987 The Federal Communications Commission rescinded the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to present controversial issues “fairly”.

1991  The Greek cruise ship MTS Oceanos sank off the Wild Coast of South Africa.

1995 Operation Storm began in Croatia.

2002 Soham murders: 10 year old school girls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells went missing from Soham, Cambridgeshire.

2005 Prime Minister Paul Martin announced that Michaëlle Jean would be Canada’s 27th — and first black — Governor General.

2006 2006 Trincomalee massacre of NGO workers by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF).

2007 NASA’s Phoenix spaceship was launched.

2007 – Airport police officer María del Luján Telpuk discovered a suitcase containing an undeclared amount of US$800,000 as it went through an x-ray machine in Buenos Aires’ Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, sparking an international scandal involving Venezuela and Argentina known as “Maletinazo“.

2010 – California’s Proposition 8, the ballot initiative prohibiting same-sex marriage passed by the state’s voters in 2008, was overturned by Judge Vaughn Walker in the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia