Word of the day

Expergefacient – awakening or arousing; a drug or other agent that awakens or arouses.

366 days of gratitude

More than not a day too soon, at least a couple of weeks too late, the clocks went backwards early this morning.

Yesterday the sun didn’t rise until around 7:30, this morning it was an hour earlier and oh how I’m grateful for that.

Rural round-up

Study shows agri-foods big benefit to economy:

A new study has found the New Zealand agri-food sector contributes around one fifth of the country’s GDP.

The study by the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit at Lincoln University aimed to measure the sector’s economic impact and to analyse how the sector could continue to grow to support the well-being of New Zealanders.

One of the authors, Professor Caroline Saunders said the study had exploded a myth about agriculture’s contribution to the economy. . .

Rural women juggle work and home – Kate Taylor:

The first meeting of the day for three Hawke’s Bay agri-business women is with each other as they wait for the school bus. It must count as a business meeting… they share each other’s business cards.

There’s a twinkle in the eyes of Ravensdown agri-manager Caroline Kirk, Kells Wool buyer Maureen Chaffey and Lean Meats/Atkins Ranch livestock manager Karen Atkins as they joke about multitasking.

But there’s no joking when they talk about the support of their parents or in-laws and their other half to do what they do.

The trio live down a five kilometre no-exit road in the farming district of Raukawa, south west of Hastings.  Every morning at 7.45am they drive to the school bus corner then drive out to work. They laugh about covering all the bases with farmers with their fertiliser, wool and meat. . . 

Hurunui Water Project gets $520,000 boost:

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed new funding of $520,000 for the Hurunui Water Project centred around Hawarden in North Canterbury.

“A reliable source of water in this very dry part of the country has major potential to increase production, grow exports and create jobs,” says Mr Guy.

The funding comes from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Irrigation Acceleration Fund and will help refine the scheme layout and scope the comprehensive work programme. This will help them deliver on Stage 1 in which 10,000-15,000 hectares will be irrigated.

“Once complete the full scheme has the potential to irrigate 35,000 hectares of land. Around 70% of that land will be used for sheep and beef production, with the other 30% being for arable, dairy and other uses.” . . 

Fitch sees milk price recovery beyond 2016 – Fiona Rotherham:

Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said continued growth in European milk production to ramp up exports will further delay a recovery in global milk prices until beyond the end of this year.

The supply growth has been compounded by weak demand, mainly due to subdued Chinese demand and a Russian embargo on major Western dairy exporters.

Average prices on the GlobalDairyTrade auction fell by around 38 percent in 2014/15 and around 20 percent in the 2015/16 season to mid-March. . . 

Top Dairy Operation Wins Supreme Title In 2016 Taranaki Ballance Farm Environment Awards:

A well-managed dairy and forestry farm owned by Parininihi ki Waitotara (PKW) is the Supreme winner of the 2016 Taranaki Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

The award was presented to PKW Farms LP, farm manager Matt Kelbrick and farm supervisor Roger Landers at a special Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA) ceremony on March 31 (2016). The team behind PKW’s No.2 Farm in the Ohangai district also collected the Massey University Innovation Award and the WaterForce Integrated Management Award.

PKW is a Taranaki-based Maori Incorporation that owns 20,000ha of dairy land and a range of other business interests, including crayfishing, forestry and commercial property. . . 

Fish and seafood trade could double under TPP:

The benefits to New Zealand’s fishing and seafood industry will be very significant once all tariffs are eliminated under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Trade Minister Todd McClay told a Nelson Chamber of Commerce audience that the region, the home of Australasia’s largest fishing port, that he believes the agreement will enable the industry to double its exports to one billion dollars.

“Last year, we exported $581 million in fish and seafood into TPP countries. . .

Outside voice

A lot of stuff changes once you figure out
the voices you hear in your head have
no idea what they’re talking about.
If they knew anything at all about
the world, they’d stop in amazement
because why waste all that time
talking when you could be spinning
around & around laughing &
soaking it all in?

Outside Voice ©2015 Brian Andreas – posted with permission.

From:

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Sunday soapbox

Sunday’s Sunday’s soapbox is yours to use as you will – within the bounds of decency and absence of defamation. You’re welcome to look back or forward, discuss issues of the moment, to pontificate, ponder or point us to something of interest, to educate, elucidate or entertain, amuse, bemuse or simply muse, but not abuse.

If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse – Jim Rohn.

April 3 in history

1043 Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England.

1077 The first Parliament of Friuli was created.

1559 The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis treaty is signed, ending the Italian Wars.

1593  George Herbert, English poet and orator, was born  (d. 1633).

1834 The generals in the Greek War of Independence stood trial for treason.

1860 The first successful United States Pony Express run from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California began.

1865 American Civil War: Union forces captured Richmond, Virginia the capital of the Confederate States of America.

1882 Jesse James was killed by Robert Ford.

1885 Gottlieb Daimler was granted a German patent for his engine design.

1895  Trial of the libel case instigated by Oscar Wilde began, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.

1915 Piet de Jong, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1967 until 1971, was born.

1917 Vladimir Lenin arrived in Russia from exile, marking the beginning of Bolshevik leadership in the Russian Revolution.

1922 Doris Day, American actress and singer, was born.

1922 Joseph Stalin became the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

1924 Marlon Brando, American actor, was born  (d. 2004).

1934 Jane Goodall, English zoologist, was born.

1936 Bruno Richard Hauptmann was executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh II, the baby son of pilot Charles Lindbergh.

1943 – The Battle of Manners Street between soldiers and civilians.

1944 Tony Orlando, American musician, was born.

1946  Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma was executed in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.

1948  Carlos Salinas, former President of Mexico, was born.

1948 President Harry S. Truman signed the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.

1948  The Jeju massacre began.

1956 Hudsonville-Standale Tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan was struck by a deadly F5 tornado.

1961 Eddie Murphy, American actor and comedian, was born.

1968 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech.

1973 The first portable cell phone call was made in New York City.

1974 – The Super Outbreak occured, the biggest tornado outbreak in recorded history. The death toll was 315, with nearly 5,500 injured.

1975 Bobby Fischer refused to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default.

1982 The United Kingdom sent a naval task force to the south Atlantic to reclaim the disputed Malvinas/Falkland Islands from Argentina.

1996 Suspected “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski was arrested.

1996 A United States Air Force airplane carrying United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown crashed in Croatia, killing all 35 on board.

1997 The Thalit massacre began in Algeria; all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit were killed by guerrillas.

2000 United States v. Microsoft: Microsoft was ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws by keeping “an oppressive thumb” on its competitors.

2004  Islamic terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks were trapped by the police in their apartment and killed themselves.

2007  Conventional-Train World Speed Record: a French TGV train on the LGV Est high speed line set an official new world speed record.

2008 ATA Airlines, once one of the 10 largest U.S. passenger airlines and largest charter airline, filed for bankruptcy for the second time in 5 years and ceases all operations.

2009  Australia formally adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

2013 – More than 50 people died in floods resulting from record-breaking rainfall in La Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia