366 days of gratitude

Buy a bigger block of cheese, the advertisement used to exhort us.

I need no encouragement to do that, cheese is one of my favourite foods.

Most days I breakfast on cottage cheese. Brie or Camembert with tomato is my go-to filling for lunchtime sandwiches and I often use feta or Parmesan to enhance salads or vegetable dishes for dinner.

In North Otago cheese aficionados are blessed with the many delights produced by Whitestone Cheese and I am especially grateful for that.

Word of the day

Fletcherise  – to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly; masticate food completely;  to reduce (food) to tiny particles especially by prolonged chewing.

Rural round-up

New Zealand Food Awards unveils the ‘best of the best’ for 2016:

The winners of the 2016 New Zealand Food Awards, in association with Massey University, were unveiled this evening at a gala dinner among 400 guests at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, with nine products from 11 companies taking out the top spots.

A record number of entries – up 62 per cent on last year – made competition for the prestigious awards more intense than ever this year.

Wanganui’s Coastal Spring Lamb proved the overall champion, claiming the ultimate accolade of the Massey University Supreme Award, as well as the Export Innovation and Chilled Foods Award categories with its Lamb Rack. Judges were particularly impressed with the process used to grow, market and sell the product from pasture to plate.

Coastal Spring Lamb owners, Richard and Suze Redmayne, say winning the Massey University Supreme Award was a dream come true and great recognition for the farming families behind the high quality product. . . 

Exporters back single QA standard for deer farms:

All five major venison marketing companies and the NZ Deer Farmers Association (NZDFA) are backing the introduction of a revamped quality assurance programme for farmed deer.

The companies have agreed on a single standard for deer that will eliminate duplication between companies running their own QA programmes. They have also agreed that, after a three-year phase-in period, compliance with the QA standard will be a requirement for the supply of animals for Cervena™ venison.

The development of the single standard was initiated by the marketers and co-ordinated by Deer Industry NZ (DINZ) as part of the industry’s Passion2Profit (P2P) programme. . . 

NZ to support dairy development in Peru:

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce has today announced New Zealand will contribute $4 million to a four-year dairy development partnership with Peru.

“The New Zealand Peru Dairy Support Project will use our expertise to improve the profitability of up to 90,000 dairy farmers in the Peruvian Sierra,” Mr Joyce says.

“The project will focus on assisting Peruvian farmers with New Zealand technologies to improve milk and cheese production, handling and processing practices, and more effective research and extension.

“Dairying has good potential to increase smallholder dairy productivity and incomes in the Sierra, generating regular cash income and contributing to household nutrition and food security. . . 

Hawke’s Bay Apple Crop Budding Well for a High Quality Season:

Hot, sunny weather in Hawke’s Bay is budding well for another high quality apple crop as the trees reach full bloom.

One of New Zealand’s largest apple growers, BOSTOCK New Zealand is expecting a solid season in 2017.

BOSTOCK New Zealand Owner John Bostock says the outlook is positive thanks to mild weather and few frosts.

“Warm, dry conditions are ideal when trees are in bloom – we have had some really hot days in Hawke’s Bay, with temperatures reaching the mid 20s and indications show it’s a strong bud. . . 

The Stories of Ehrlich, Borlaug and the Green Revolution – Gopi Rajagopal:

 Fifty years after high yielding variety seeds came to India, a look at how they got here – and what may have happened if they didn’t.

For the average person, the names Ehrlich and Borlaug may not mean anything. However, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the two Americans, in their own way, did something extraordinary. Paul R. Ehrlich, a professor of biology at Stanford University, painted a depressing picture of the state of the world – a picture that had hundreds of millions dying within a decade, and nations such as India and England ceasing to exist.

Norman Borlaug, along with his associates, proved Ehrlich wrong. Borlaug helped nations such as Mexico and India double, even triple, their crop yield – an increase that outpaced the population growth rate and ensured that famines would remain only in the history books. . . 

Inland Revenue considers updating farmhouse expenses rules:

Inland Revenue is looking to bring tax accounting practice regarding farmhouse expenses into line with the law.

This is all part of a review of out-dated practices and policies.

The practice of full-time farmers deducting 25% of farmhouse expenses without needing to provide evidence of their business use has been accepted by the department since the 1960s.

Farmers have also been able to deduct 100% of rates bills and interest costs on loans.

Inland Revenue Group Tax Counsel Graham Tubb said this has allowed some farmers to claim deductions for private spending. . . 

Farmers’ Market Comes to Town:

Four New Zealand farmers have joined forces to bring the freshness of farmers’ market free range eggs to selected supermarkets across the country – introducing Craft Farmers’ Co-op. Kiwis can now enjoy premium free range eggs, within days of local hand-picking.

Located in Northland, Auckland, Wairarapa and Canterbury, the four independent farmers share common philosophies in the way they care for their hens and respect their environment. By collaborating as Craft Farmers’ Co-op, the farmers can provide farm-fresh free range eggs direct to more Kiwis in more locations.

Craft Farmers’ Co-op eggs are hand-packaged at the farm, into biodegradable, recyclable cartons, each with a story about the local farmer who picked them. This means people know exactly where their eggs have come from – the ultimate in traceability. . . 

Pioneering vineyard placed on the market for sale:

The first sheep farm/vineyard conversion property in the Marlborough district of Ward, continuously owned by the same family for six generations, has been placed on the market for sale.

A pioneering vineyard that led the conversion from sheep farming to grape growing in its region has been placed on the market for sale, ending six generations of family ownership.

Francis Estate Vineyard at Ward, South-East Marlborough, was established as a sheep and beef breeding farm by Frederick William (Billy) Francis and his wife Agnus Elizabeth Francis in 1905. The farm remained a meat and wool production focused operation until the late 1980s when the removal of farm subsidies affected the profitability of the sector nationwide. . .

GDT up 1.4%

The GlobalDairyTrade price index had a welcome 1.4% lift in this morning’s auction.

Quote of the day

In the last 15 or 20 years, I’ve watched the British press simply go to hell. There seems to be no limit, no depths to which the tabloids won’t sink. I don’t know who these people are but they’re little pigs. – John le Carré who celebrates his 85th birthday today.

He also said:

Writing is like walking in a deserted street. Out of the dust in the street you make a mud pie.

And:

You have no idea how humiliating it was, as a boy, to suddenly have all your clothes, your toys, snatched by the bailiff. I mean we were a middle-class family, it’s not as if it was happening up and down the street. It made me ashamed, I felt dirty.

And:

History keeps her secrets longer than most of us. But she has one secret that I will reveal to you tonight in the greatest confidence. Sometimes there are no winners at all. And sometimes nobody needs to lose.

October 19 in history

202 BC  Second Punic War: At the Battle of Zama, Roman legions under Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal Barca, leader of the invading Carthaginian army.

439  The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage.

1216  King John of England died and was succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry.

1453 The French recapture of Bordeaux brought the Hundred Years’ Warto a close, with the English retaining only Calais on French soil.

1466 The Thirteen Years War ended with the Second Treaty of Thorn.

1469   Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella I of Castile, a marriage that paved the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country, Spain.

1512  Martin Luther became a doctor of theology (Doctor in Biblia).

1789 John Jay was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.

1813 The Battle of Leipzig concluded, giving Napoleon Bonaparte one of his worst defeats.

1822  In Parnaíba; Simplício Dias da Silva, João Cândido de Deus e Silva and Domingos Dias declared the independent state of Piauí.

1850  Annie Smith Peck, American mountaineer, was born (d. 1935).

1864 Battle of Cedar Creek – Union Army under Philip Sheridan destroy the Confederate Army under Jubal Early.

1864 – St. Albans Raid – Confederate raiders launched an attack on Saint Albans, Vermont.

1882  Umberto Boccioni, Italian painter and sculptor, was born (d. 1916).

1899  Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan writer, Nobel Prize laureate, was born (d. 1974).

1904 Polytechnic University of the Philippines founded as Manila Business School through the superintendence of the American C.A. O’Reilley.

1914 The First Battle of Ypres began.

1921 Portuguese Prime Minister António Granjo and other politicians were murdered in a Lisbon coup.

1931  John le Carré, English novelist, was born.

1943  Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, was isolated by researchers at Rutgers University.

1946 Philip Pullman, English writer, was born.

1950 The People’s Liberation Army takes control of the town of Qamdo in what is sometimes called the “Invasion of Tibet”.

1950  Korean War:  China joined the Korean War by sending thousands of troops across the Yalu river to fight United Nations forces.

1954 First ascent of Cho Oyu.

1959  The first discothèque, The Scotch Club in Aachen,  opened.

1966 President Lyndon Johnson, the first NZ president to visit New Zealand,  and his wife, Lady Bird, arrived at Ohakea airfield at the start of a 24-hour visit.

1969  The first Prime Minister of Tunisia in twelve years,Bahi Ladgham,was appointed by President Habib Bourguiba.

1974 – Niue became a self-governing colony of New Zealand.

1976  Battle of Aishiya in Lebanon.

1983  Maurice Bishop, Prime Minister of Grenada, was overthrown and executed in a military coup d’état led by Bernard Coard.

1986 Samora Machel, President of Mozambique and leader of FRELIMO, and 33 others died when their Tupolev 134 plane crashed into the Lebombo Mountains.

1987  Black Monday – the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 22%, 508 points.

1989  The convictions of the Guildford Four were quashed by the Court of Appeal  after they had spent 15 years in prison.

1992 – Fred Hollows Foundation was launched.

2001 SIEV-X, an Indonesian fishing boat en-route to Christmas Island, carrying over 400 asylum seekers, samk in international waters with the loss of 353 people.

2003 Mother Teresa was beatified by Pope John Paul II.

2004 Myanmar prime minister Khin Nyunt was ousted and placed under house arrest by the State Peace and Development Council on charges of corruption.

2004 – Care International aid worker Margaret Hassan was kidnapped in Iraq.

2005  Saddam Hussein went on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity.

2005 – Hurricane Wilma became the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb.

2007  A bomb explosion rocked Glorietta 2, a shopping mall in Makati. It killed 11 and injured more than 100 people.

2012  – Big Tex, a 52-foot statue and cultural icon in Dallas, Texas, was destroyed by fire during the final weekend of the 2012 State Fair of Texas.

2013 – At least 105 people were injured in a train crash at the Once railway station in Buenos Aires.

2014 – Oort cloud Comet Siding Spring made a close fly-by the planetMars passing within 140,000 kilometers.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia