Word of the day

Skilamalink – secret or shady; doubtful; dubious.

Rural round-up

Meat exports sold to more than 100 countries – Allan Barber:

New Zealand’s meat exporters come in for a lot of criticism, either for selling too cheaply or for not adding value, and certainly because they can’t (or don’t) pay farmers enough for their livestock. This final criticism is presumably a direct result of the first two – the prosecution’s case argues if they sold product at a higher price or added more value, they would automatically be able to pay more for livestock.

Logic says the critics are correct, but they fail to take into account such annoying complications as market demand, tariffs and market access, exchange rates, seasonality, grass growth and the fact lamb in particular is too expensive to be easily converted into affordable ready meals. New Zealand meat exporters have successfully built relationships with overseas supermarket groups, high quality food distributors and top restaurants, as well as food manufacturers and fast food chains. . . 

Course cultivates wider understanding – Sally Rae:

Growing up on a North Otago dairy farm,  Isabelle Keeling’s knowledge of the agricultural sector was limited to the dairy industry.

Taking an agribusiness course has broadened the Columba College pupil’s knowledge of the wider industry. Having never previously studied economics or accounting, Isabelle (16) has been learning about the likes of co-operative business structures and cashflow forecasts.

“I can understand what my dad’s talking about,” she said, during a class at John McGlashan College this week. . . 

Geographical Indications to reinforce wines reputation:

New Zealand wine and spirit makers will soon be able to register their geographical indications, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Jacqui Dean told New Zealand Winegrowers today.

“Legislation to enable the wine industry to formally register their geographical indications in New Zealand is on track to come into force in late July,” Ms Dean says.

“A geographical indication shows that a wine or spirit comes from a specific region, and possesses particular qualities or characteristics as a result. . . 

North Otago farmer on board – Sally Rae:

North Otago farmer Matt Ross has been appointed to the board of LIC (Livestock Improvement Corp).

He replaces retiring long-standing director Alvin Reid while board chairman Murray King has also been reappointed.

Mr Ross and his wife Julie milk 1800 cows on a 580ha property in the Waitaki Valley. The couple won the national Sharemilker of the Year title in 2007. . . 

Farmer’s windblown trees named among world’s most beautiful – Richard Davison:

While windswept vistas are a regular sight in Southland, a group of macrocarpa trees has found worldwide popularity after they were named among the world’s most magnificent. 

US lifestyle website Brightside recently published an online photo article entitled “The 16 Most Beautiful Trees in the World”, in which a stand of windblown macrocarpa from the mainland’s southernmost location – Slope Pt in the Catlins – featured at number three.

The photograph, sourced from Flickr, was taken during a family trip to the area by French-born amateur photographer Ben Rodriguez. . . 

Your organic cotton t-shirt might be worse for the environment than regular cotton – Marc Bain:

The word “organic” is a powerful marketing tool. In clothing—just as in food—brands love to tout their use of organic agricultural products to show they’re doing their part to fight the industry’s outsized environmental footprint. They know consumers want products they believe are better for them and the planet. “Organic,” which generally means something was grown without synthetic additives or pesticides and wasn’t genetically modified, seems to promise as much.

But the reality isn’t always so simple. Your organic cotton t-shirt may have actually used up more resources to produce than one made of conventionally grown cotton, and could have a greater overall impact on the environment.

One major reason, as various speakers pointed out at a May 23 panel held by Cotton Inc., a research group that serves the cotton industry, is that conventional cotton varieties have a higher yield, meaning a single plant will produce more fiber than its organic counterpart. . . 

Quote of the day

Writers and painters alike are in the business of consulting their own imaginations, and stimulating the imaginations of others. Together, and separately, they celebrate the absolute mystery of otherness.  – Lynne Truss who celebrates her 62nd birthday today.

May 31 in history

1279 BC – Rameses II (The Great) (19th dynasty) became pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

526  A an earthquake in Antioch, Turkey, killed 250,000.

1223 Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River – Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeated Kievan Rus and Cumans.

1578  Martin Frobisher sailed from Harwich,  to Frobisher Bay, Canada, eventually to mine fool’s gold, used to pave streets in London.

1669   Samuel Pepys recorded the last event in his diary.

1678  The Godiva procession through Coventry began.

1759  The Province of Pennsylvania banned all theatre productions.

1775  American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolutions adopted in the Province of North Carolina.

1790 Alferez Manuel Quimper explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

1790 – The United States enacted its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.

1813  Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, reached Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.

1819 Walt Whitman, American poet, was born (d. 1892).

1859  The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, started keeping time.

1862  American Civil War Peninsula Campaign: Battle of Seven Pines or (Battle of Fair Oaks) – Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston & G. W. Smith engaged Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.

1864 American Civil War Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor – The Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee engaged the Army of the Potomac under Ulysses S. Grant & George G. Meade.

1866  In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O’Neill led 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara Riveras part of an effort to  free Ireland from the English.

1872 Heath Robinson, English cartoonist, was born (d. 1944).

1884 Arrival at Plymouth of Tawhiao,  Maori king, to claim protection of Queen Victoria.

1889 – Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people died after a dam break sent a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

1898 Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, American clergyman, was born (d. 1993).

1902 The Treaty of Vereeniging ended the second Boer War war and ensured British control of South Africa.

1910 Creation of the Union of South Africa.

1911  The ocean liner R.M.S. Titanic was launched.

1916  World War I: Battle of Jutland – The British Grand Fleet under the command of Sir John Jellicoe & Sir David Beatty engaged the Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Reinhard Scheer & Franz von Hipper in the largest naval battle of the war, which proved indecisive. Among the ships was HMS New Zealand.

1921 Tulsa Race Riot: A civil unrest in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the official death toll was 39, but recent investigations suggest the actual toll was much higher.

1923 Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, was born (d. 2005).

1924  The Soviet Union signed an agreement with the Peking government, referring to Outer Mongolia as an “integral part of the Republic of China”, whose “sovereignty” therein the Soviet Union promised to respect.

1927  The last Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.

1930 Clint Eastwood, American film director and actor, was born.

1935  A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroyed Quetta, Pakistan,: 40,000 dead.

1935 Jim Bolger, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand, was born.

1938 Peter Yarrow, American folk singer (Peter, Paul and Mary), was born.

1939 Terry Waite, British humanitarian, was born.

1941  A Luftwaffe air raid in Dublin claimed 38 lives.

1942 World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines began a series of attacks on Sydney.

1943  Zoot Suit Riots began.

1953 – Lynne Truss, English journalist and author.

1961 Republic of South Africa created.

1962 The West Indies Federation dissolved.

1962  Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel.

1965 Brooke Shields, American actress and supermodel, was born.

1967 Phil Keoghan, New Zealand-born US television personality, was born.

1970  The Ancash earthquake caused a landslide that buried the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people were killed.

1971  In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.

1973  The United States Senate voted to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of theCambodian Civil War.

1975 Mona Blades, an 18 year-old htich hiker disappeared, after last being seen in an orange Datsun.

1977  The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System completed.

1981  Burning of Jaffna library, Sri Lanka.

1985 Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.

1989 – A group of six members of the guerrilla group Revolutionary Movement Tupac Amaru (MRTA) of Peru, shot dead eight transsexuals, in the city of Tarapoto

1991 – Bicesse Accords in Angola laid out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations’ UNAVEM IImission.

2005 – Vanity Fair revealed that Mark Felt was Deep Throat

2010 – In international waters, armed Shayetet 13 commandos, intending to force the flotilla to anchor at the Ashdod port, boarded ships trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, resulting in 9 civilian deaths.

2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon made their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.

2013 – An EF5 tornado devastated El Reno, Oklahoma, killing nine people, becoming the widest tornado in recorded history, with an astounding diameter of 2.6 miles (4.2 km).

2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon made their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Podsnappery – an attitude toward life marked by complacency and a refusal to recognise unpleasant facts; wilful determination to ignore the objectionable or inconvenient while assuming airs of superior virtue and noble resignation.

Rural round-up

Engaging Farmers in Fresh Water Management:

Speech to Local Government New Zealand Fresh Water Forum

Dr William Rolleston, President, Federated Farmers of New Zealand

Mayor Lawrence Yule, LGNZ President, Mayors, distinguished guests Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.

Less than 3% of the water on this planet is fresh water and of that only 1/3 is directly available for human use. – . . 

Synlait Forecast Milk Price $6.50 kgMS Next Season:

Synlait Milk’s  forecast milk price for the 2017 / 2018 season is $6.50 kgMS, in response to increasing confidence that dairy commodity prices are stabilising.

Managing Director and CEO, John Penno, says Synlait is feeling positive about the current market, and the forecast milk price reflects that.

“We start the season with some confidence that supply and demand are more balanced, and this forecast reflects an expectation of dairy prices remaining at current levels,” says Dr. Penno. . . 

Synlait Purchases the New Zealand Dairy Company:

Synlait Milk has today announced it has purchased 100% of the shares of The New Zealand Dairy Company (NZDC).

NZDC is based in Auckland, and is currently constructing a blending and canning operation at a site in Mangere. This site will now be owned by Synlait.

The facility will be infant formula capable, and will enable Synlait to substantially lift its blending and canning capacity. The acquisition will also provide Synlait with a high specification sachet packaging line suitable for infant formula and milk powders. . .

Synlait purchases strategic blending and canning assets:

Synlait’s announcement today of the purchase of apparently distressed assets from the New Zealand Dairy Company puts another peg in the board strengthening Synlait’s pathway towards an integrated dairy value-chain. The purchase has relevance both to Synlait and its strategic partner The a2 Milk Company (ATM in New Zealand; A2M in Australia). The unstated key driver is exponential growth of demand for ‘a2 Platinum’ infant formula.

The purchase cost of the assets is $33.2 million with additional expected costs of $23.3 million to make the plant operational by October 2017.

There should be no surprise that Synlait has purchased blending and canning assets to complement its existing similar assets at Dunsandel in Canterbury. . . 

The manuka honey fight is one we have to have – William van Caenegem:

The current row about the certification of Manuka honey, and whether it is a distinctly New Zealand product, is just the latest dispute involving Geographical Indications (GIs). These are markers that products have special qualities due to their origins in a specific region, like Champagne.

There is a debate as to whether a registered GI system for food should be adopted in Australia. It might be good for our farmers – to more effectively protect King Island Beef, Bangalow pork or Tasmanian lobster against low quality imitations. But would it be in the best interest of Australian producers and consumers to simply capitulate to demands about New Zealand Manuka, or about GIs in general?

Why GIS?

Registering a GI can stop imitators riding on the coattails of local producers who have worked hard to build the reputation of their typical local product, be it cheese, processed meat or quality fruit. . . 

The horrible truth behind marshmallow ranches. Now that they are fat from grazing all summer, they will be slaughtered to make smaller ones, bagged and sold in stores. Some are cut up and held over a fire while still alive! Stop the Madness! remember that golden brown is the only humane  way. – Proud to Be A Farmer

 

When you’re lying you’re losing

Labour was blindsided by the support other Opposition Parties – the Greens and New Zealand First – have given to national’s Budget.

That is no excuse for lying about the details Andrew Little said:

“National’s Single Child Tax will see a family with one child lose as much as $830 a year in Working For Families payments.

“Whenever you’re putting these packages together, there’s always a complexity about it. But I’d be surprised if they understood there’s 20,000 odd single-child families that will now be worse off – but that’s the reality. ” 

No it’s not.

Getting something more, even if it is less than someone else is not losing.

[Finance Minister Steven] Joyce said those families still saw an overall gain, and Labour was failing to see the bigger picture. 

“The abatement changes mean they don’t get as much from the Working for Families part of the package, but they gain more from other parts of the package, in particular the tax changes. They may also in some cases gain from the Accommodation Supplement Changes.

“It’s important to note that these people are already receiving Working for Families so currently get more than couples with no children who don’t get anything from Working for Families. They continue to get more until the Working For Families is fully abated,” he said. 

“One of the aims of the Family Incomes package is to focus Working for Families on lower income families and that middle income families are less dependent on Working for Families and keep more of what they earn through the tax system. This is an example of that occurring.” . . 

It is better and more efficient to allow people to keep more of what they earn than take more in tax, churn it through a bureaucracy and give some back.

Over at Kiwiblog, David Farrar points out that Labour is also lying about health expenditure:

. . . Now let’s look at what at what Vote Health has done between 2008 and Budget 2017.

• Nominal Vote Health – increased by $4.85 billion a year from $11.92 billion to $16.77 billion – a 40.7% increase
• Real Vote Health – increased by $3.00 billion a year from $13.77 billion to $16.77 billion – a 21.8% increase
• Real Vote Health per capita – increased by $341 a year from $3,233 to $3,574 – a 10.5% increase

You can claim it is not enough. You can claim more is needed. You can claim growing elderly population needs more funding. But you cannot claim it has been cut. That is a lie. . . 

When you’re lying, you’re losing and Labour is.

If it can’t convince other Opposition parties to stay with it against the government, how will it convince voters to let it run the country?

 

 

Quote of the day

You don’t go into space just for the science. Economically, it is not worth it. I think the reason we should be in space is for the exploration; it’s the human endeavour.  – Helen Sharman who celebrates her 54th birthday today.

May 30 in history

70 Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breached the Second Wall of Jerusalem. The Jewish defenders retreated to the First Wall. The Romans built a circumvallation, all trees within fifteen kilometres were cut down.

1416 The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burned Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.

1431  Hundred Years’ War: 19-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. Because of this the Catholic Church remember this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.

1434  Hussite Wars (Bohemian Wars): Battle of Lipany – effectively ending the war, Utraquist forces led by Diviš Bořek of Miletínek defeated and almost annihilated Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great.

1536  Henry VIII of England married Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.

1539 Hernando de Soto landed at Tampa Bay, Florida,  with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.

1574  Henry III became King of France.

1588 The last ship of the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.

1635  Thirty Years’ War: the Peace of Prague (1635) was signed.

1642  From this date all honours granted by Charles I were retrospectively annulled by Parliament.

1757 Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was born (d. 1844).

1806 Andrew Jackson killed Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson had accused Jackson’s wife of bigamy.

1814 Napoleonic Wars: War of the Sixth Coalition – the Treaty of Paris (1814) was signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent.

1819 – William McMurdo, English general, was born (d. 1894).

1832  The Rideau Canal in eastern Ontario opened.

1842  John Francis attempted to murder Queen Victoria as she drove down Constitution Hill with Prince Albert.

1845 – Amadeo I, King of Spain, was born (d. 1890).

1846 Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian goldsmith and jeweller, was born (d. 1920).

1854 The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law establishing the US territories of Nebraska and Kansas.

1859 Westminster’s Big Ben rang for the first time in London.

1862 – Mirza Alakbar Sabir, Azerbaijani philosopher and poet, was born (d. 1911).

1868  Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern “Memorial Day) was observed in the United States for the first time (By “Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic” John A. Logan‘s proclamation on May 5).

1869  – Grace Andrews, American mathematician, was born (d. 1951).

1871  The Paris Commune fell.

1876  Ottoman sultan Abd-ul-Aziz was deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murat V.

1879 New York City’s Gilmores Garden was renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.

1883  A rumour that the Brooklyn Bridge was going to collapse causes a stampede that crushes twelve people.

1901 – A 10-man Royal Commission reported unanimously that New Zealand should not become a state of the Commonwealth of Australia.

1909 – Benny Goodman, American clarinet player, songwriter, and bandleader, was born (d. 1986).

1911  At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ended with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race.

1913  First Balkan War: the Treaty of London, 1913 is signed ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.

1914  The new and then largest Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, set sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.

1915  The East Indiaman ship Arniston was wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, the loss of 372 lives.

1917  Alexander I became king of Greece.

1919 – René Barrientos, Bolivian army officer and politician, 55th President of Bolivia, was born. (d. 1969).

1922  In Washington, D.C. the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated.

1928 – Joan Birman, American mathematician, was born.

1941  World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb on the Athenian Acropolis, tear down the Nazi swastika and replace it with the Greek flag.

1942  World War II: 1000 British bombers launched a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.

1948  A dike along the flooding Columbia River broke, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

1955 – Caroline Swift, English lawyer and judge, was born.

1955 Topper Headon, British musician (The Clash), was born.

1958  Memorial Day: the remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, were buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

1959  The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour was officially opened by Governor-General Lord Cobham.

1961  Long time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo was assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

1961 – Harry Enfield, English actor, director, and screenwriter, was born

1962 Kevin Eastman, American comic book creator (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), was born.

1963  A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis was held outside South Vietnam’s National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year rule of Ngo Dinh Diem.

1963 – Helen Sharman, English chemist and astronaut, was born.

1966 Former Congolese Prime Minister Evariste Kimba and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.

1967 Daredevil Evel Knievel jumped his motorcycle over 16 cars lined up in a row.

1967  The Nigerian Eastern Region declared independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.

1971 Mariner 9 was launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars.

1972 The Angry Brigade went on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout Britain.

1972  In Tel Aviv members of the Japanese Red Army carried out the Lod Airport Massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.

1989  Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high “Goddess of Democracy” statue was unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.

1996 – A New Zealand Royal Honours System was established with the institution of the New Zealand Order of Merit, which replaced the various British State Orders of Chivalry.

1998  A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.2002– 272 days after the September 11 attacks, closing ceremonies were held for the clean up/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site in New York City.2003 – Depayin massacre: at least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy were killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene, but was arrested soon afterwards.

2012 – Former Liberian president Charles Taylor was sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.

2013  – Nigeria passed a law banning same-sex marriage.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Mundivagant – roaming or wandering around the world.

Rural round-up

Garry Woods didn’t return home with his mates – doing a first aid course can be his legacy – Joyce Wyllie:

When you leave your warm bed in the morning you never know what the day will bring.

No matter where or who you are, how good your plans are, what the weather forecast is or what mood you are in, you can never know  what will happen in the hours ahead. We all understand this reality but sometimes it does become very life-alteringly real.

The South Island Dog Trial championships have just been held, and Jock and two of his mates travelled down to near Balclutha for the event.

Between them, they had nine dogs, reasonable hopes for a good run and modest aspirations for a trophy haul. They had plenty of anticipation for an enjoyable, entertaining week catching up with friends from around New Zealand, yarning, eating, watching dogs competing on the four courses, and talking dogs and nonsense. . . 

Immigration changes are good for South Island – Neal Wallace:

Immigration changes have proved to be a mixed bag for migrant dairy farm workers.

On the one hand a new South Island Contribution work visa allowed dairy workers caught up in a false document scandal to stay, provided they met certain criteria.

But other changes making residence more difficult were prompting some Filipino farm workers to look for work overseas.

North Island Filipino Farmer’s Association president Julius Gaoing said given the residence changes the special South Island visa gave those workers an advantage over dairy farm workers in the North Island. . . 

Consents to cost $50k? – Neal Wallace:

Seeking a resource consent from the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council has become a lot more complex and costlier following an Environment Court ruling that will have repercussions around the country.

Some believed complex consent applications from Horizons could now cost more than $50,000 but there was general agreement the ruling, sought by the Auckland-based Environmental Defence Society (EDS) and Wellington Fish and Game, would require councils to take a stricter definition of environmental plans. . . 

NZ would be stupid to spurn the TPP 11 deal – Charles Finny:

Former trade negotiator Charles Finny says there is still much to do to demystify the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Finny writes some Q&As to put the facts straight.

There is no value in TPP without the United States
This is not true for New Zealand. NZ does not have a free trade agreement with Japan but competitors such as Chile and Australia do. TPP 11 (TPP minus the US) would allow us to level the playing field with these competitors. There are meaningful liberalisation outcomes in other economies – Mexico, Peru and Canada, with whom we don’t have free trade deals.

But aren’t we imposing huge costs by this agreement to the benefit of the US?
There are some “costs” in the form of increased transparency for Pharmac, increased patent terms and longer copyright terms. And yes, these are things the US argued for in the original talks. But these “costs” are far more modest than the gains from the agreement cited above. . .

Loan repayments start in October – Hugh Stringleman:

Fonterra’s 15c increase in forecast payout for 2016-17 will go to repaying the support loan of 2014-15 for more than 70% of its supply farmers.

Based on the forecast, farmers who took the loan would have 15c deducted from their October payment, the final for this season.

That would recover about half of the $363 million still owed to Fonterra and interest of 2.47% would be charged on the balance.

If the $6.50 forecast for next season was maintained or bettered and the current payment schedule still applied, the final loan repayment would come out in September 2018, chairman John Wilson said. . . 

Stay home with sheep, it’s too peopley out there.

 

Mooving from Gypsy Day

The milking season goes from June 1st to May 31st and the change of season means a change of farm for hundreds of dairy owners, sharemilkers, managers and staff.

The changes result in big and small movements for people and stock on what has been know as Gypsy Day.

But the Otago Regional Council now deems that term too offensive:

On Wednesday, the Otago Regional Council (ORC) issued a statement under the heading “Gypsy Day preparations bring reminder to reduce effluent spillage”.

That prompted a rebuke from Dunedin City councillor, Aaron Hawkins, who said “I think it’s remarkable that in 2017 something called ‘Gypsy Day’ could still exist”.

“The word ‘gypsy’ is commonly used as a slur against Roma people, but even putting that aside, drawing a comparison between herds of cattle and any ethnic grouping I would have thought was pretty offensive.

“Even if it is entrenched in common usage, I’d like to think that a body like the ORC would show some leadership by using more inclusive language.”

Asked for a response, ORC chief executive Peter Bodeker told Stuff  “The term ‘Gypsy Day’ might be still in common use within the farming community as a short-hand term for the mass movement of stock, but it has undertones that aren’t in tune with New Zealand society today”.

“ORC won’t be using the term in the future.” . . .

The Oxford dictionary  defines Gypsy as travelling people traditionally living by itinerant trade and fortune telling but it adds that it is also applied informally to a nomadic or free-spirited person.

Language evolves and terms which were once offensive become acceptable, others which weren’t acceptable become offensive.

Gypsy Day hasn’t been used derogatively, it was just coined to describe the annual movement of people and stock.

However, DairyNZ now uses Mooving Day.

Company senior communications and engagement manager Lee Cowan said an informal move to change the name happened several years ago “as we felt it better reflected what actually happened on 1 June”.

“The origin of the term probably goes back to the days when the majority of farmers and sharemilkers walked their cows to the new farm rather than trucking them as they do now.

“This meant there were a lot of farmers and cows walking along the road on changeover day which got colloquially known as Gypsy Day,” Cowan said.

“In terms of the use of the term Gypsy Day; some farmers still use the term informally as this is the term they would have grown up with, but positively we are seeing greater uptake of the term ‘Mooving Day’, he said. . . 

The antipathy to Gypsy Day could be described as political correctness or it could be accepted that language mooves with the times.

Quote of the day

When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. – G.K. Chesterton who was born on this day in 1874.

May 29 in history

363 Roman Emperor Julian defeated the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Sassanid capital, but was unable to take the city.

1167 Battle of Monte Porzio – A Roman army supporting Pope Alexander III was defeated by Christian of Buch and Rainald of Dassel.

1176 Battle of Legnano: The Lombard League defeated Emperor Frederick I.

1630 Charles II of England was born (d. 1685).

1414  Council of Constance.

1453 Byzantine-Ottoman Wars: Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed IIFatih sacked and captured Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire.

1660 English Restoration: Charles II (on his birthday) was restored to the throne of Great Britain.

1677  Treaty of Middle Plantation established peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Natives.

1727  Peter II became Tsar of Russia.

1733 The right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves was upheld.

1780 American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Waxhaws Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton massacred Colonel Abraham Buford’s continentals.

1790  Rhode Island became the last of the original United States‘ colonies to ratify the Constitution and was admitted as the 13th U.S. state.

1848  Wisconsin was admitted as the 30th U.S. state.

1864  Emperor Maximilian of Mexico arrived in Mexico for the first time.

1867  The Austro-Hungarian agreement – Ausgleich (“the Compromise“) – was born through Act 12, which established the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

1868  The assassination of Michael Obrenovich III, Prince of Serbia.

1874  G. K. Chesterton, English novelist, was born (d. 1936).

1886 Chemist John Pemberton placed his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, it appeared in the Atlanta Journal.

1900 – N’Djamena was founded as Fort-Lamy by French commanderÉmile Gentil.

1903 Bob Hope, British-born comedian and actor, was born (d. 2003).

1903  May coup d’etat: Alexander Obrenovich, King of Serbia, and Queen Draga, were assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand (Crna Ruka) organization.

1906 T.H. White, British author, was born (d. 1964).

1913 Igor Stravinsky‘s ballet score The Rite of Spring received its premiere performance in Paris, provoking a riot.

1914 – Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese-Indian mountaineer, was born, (d. 1986).

1914  Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the loss of 1,024 lives.

1917 – John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, was born (d. 1963).

1919 – Einstein’s theory of general relativity was tested (later confirmed) by Arthur Eddington’s observation of a total solar eclipse in Principe and by Andrew Crommelin in Sobral, Ceará, Brazil.

1919 The Republic of Prekmurje founded.

1924  AEK Athens FC was established on the anniversary of the siege ofConstantinople by the Turks.

1935  The Hoover Dam was completed.

1939  Albanian fascist leader Tefik Mborja is appointed as member of the Italian Chamber of Fasces and Corporations.

1940  The first flight of the F4U Corsair.

1941 Doug Scott, British mountaineer, was born.

1942  Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra recorded Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas”.

1945 Gary Brooker, musician (Procol Harum), was born.

1945  First combat mission of the Consolidated B-32 Dominator heavy bomber.

1947 – Mabel Howard became New Zealand’s first female Cabinet Minister.

1948  Creation of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation

1950  The St. Roch, the first ship to circumnavigate North America, arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia .

1953 Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on Tenzing Norgay’s (adopted) 39th birthday.

1954  First of the annual Bilderberg conferences.

1959 Rupert Everett, English actor, was born.

1961 Melissa Etheridge, American musician, was born.

1963 Tracey E. Bregman, American actress, was born.

1967 Noel Gallagher, English musician (former Oasis), was born.

1969  General strike in Córdoba, Argentina, leading to the Cordobazo civil unrest.

1973  Tom Bradley was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles.

1975 Melanie Brown, English musician and actress (Spice Girls), was born.

1978 Adam Rickitt, British actor, was born.

1982 – Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit Canterbury Cathedral.

1985 – Heysel Stadium disaster: At the European Cup final in Brussels 39 football fans died and hundreds are injured when a dilapidated retaining wall collapses after Liverpool F.C. fans breached a fence separating them from Juventus F.C. fans.

1985  Amputee Steve Fonyo completed cross-Canada marathon atVictoria, British Columbia, after 14 months.

1988  U.S. President Ronald Reagan began his first visit to the Soviet Union.

1990 The Russian parliament elected Boris Yeltsin president of the Russian SFSR.

1999  Olusegun Obasanjo took office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule.

1999 Space Shuttle Discovery completed the first docking with theInternational Space Station.

1999 – Charlotte Perrelli won the Eurovision Song Contest 1999  for Sweden with the song Take Me to Your Heaven.

2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruled that disabled golfer Casey Martin could use a cart to ride in at tournaments.

2004  The National World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

2008 – A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck Iceland near the town of Selfoss, injuring 30 people.

2012 – A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit northern Italy near Bologna, killing at least 24 people.

2014 – Ignatius Aphrem II was enthroned as the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Word of the day

Inimical – tending to obstruct or harm; unfriendly; hostile; adverse in tendency or effect; unfavorable; injurious  harmful.

Quiet pride

There has never been a day when I have not been proud of you, I said to my daughter, though some days I’m louder about other stuff so it’s easy to miss that. Quiet Pride © 2014 Brian Andreas – posted with permission.

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Sunday soapbox

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.

A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work – Colin Powell.

May 28 in history

585 BC – A solar eclipse occurred, as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes was battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.

1503 James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor were married. A Treaty of Everlasting Peace between Scotland and England signed on that occasion resulted in a peace that lasted ten years.

1533 The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared the marriage of King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn valid.

1588 The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.

1644  Bolton Massacre by Royalist troops under the command of the Earl of Derby.

1660 King George I of Great Britain, was born (d. 1727).

1754  French and Indian War: in the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington defeated a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen.

1759 William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was born (d. 1806).

1774  American Revolutionary War: the first Continental Congress convened.

1830 President Andrew Jackson signed The Indian Removal Act which relocates Native Americans.

1853 Carl Larsson, Swedish painter, was born (d. 1919).

1858 Carl Rickard Nyberg, Swedish inventor, was born (d. 1939).

1859  Big Ben was drawn on a carriage pulled by 16 horses fromWhitechapel Bell Foundry to the Palace of Westminster.

1863 American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first African American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts, to fight for the Union.

1892  John Muir organised the Sierra Club.

1905  Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ended with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Togo Heihachiro and the Imperial Japanese Navy.

1908 Ian Fleming, English author, was born (d. 1964).

1912 Patrick White, Australian writer, Nobel Prize laureate, was born (d. 1990).

1918  The Democratic Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic declared their independence.

1920 Dennis Gunn was convicted of the murder of a postmaster and sentenced to death. In what was possibly a world-first involving a capital crime, Gunn’s conviction was based almost entirely on fingerprint evidence.

1926  28th May 1926 coup d’état: Ditadura Nacional was established in Portugal to suppressthe unrest of the First Republic.

1930 The Chrysler Building in New York City officially opened.

1931 Carroll Baker, American actress, was born.

1934  Quintuplets, Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie, and Marie, were born to Ovila and Elzire Dionne, and later become the first quintuplets to survive infancy.

1934 – The Glyndebourne festival in England was inaugurated.

1936 Betty Shabazz, American civil rights activist was born (d. 1997).

1936 Alan Turing submitted On Computable Numbers for publication.

1937 The Golden Gate Bridge was officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1937  Neville Chamberlain became British Prime Minister.

1940  World War II: Belgium surrendered to Germany.

1940  World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recaptured Narvik in the first allied infantry victory of the War.

1942  World War II: in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Nazis in Czechoslovakia killed more than 1800 people.

1944 Rudy Giuliani, 107th Mayor of New York City, was born.

1944 Gladys Knight, American singer and actress, was born.

1944 Patricia Quinn, Northern Irish actress, was born.

1945 John Fogerty, American musician (Creedence Clearwater Revival) was born.

1952  Memphis Kiddie Park opened in Brooklyn, Ohio.

1952 – The women of Greece gained the right to vote.

1961 Peter Benenson‘s article “The Forgotten Prisoners” was published in several internationally read newspapers was later thought of as the founding of Amnesty International.

1964 The Palestine Liberation Organization was formed.

1970 The formerly united Free University of Brussels officially split into two separate entities, the French-speaking Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

1974 Northern Ireland’s power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapsed following a general strike by loyalists.

1975 Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating theEconomic Community of West African States.

1977 In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire killed 165 people.

1978 Second round of the presidential elections in Upper Volta which was won by incumbent Sangoulé Lamizana.

1979 Constantine Karamanlis signed the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.

1982 Falklands War: British forces defeated the Argentines at the Battle of Goose Green.

1984 Beth Allen, New Zealand actress, was born.

1987 19-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evaded Soviet Union air defenses and lands a private plane in Red Square.

1987  A robot probe found the wreckage of the USS Monitor.

1991 The capital city of Addis Ababa, fell to the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime and theEthiopian Civil War.

1995  Neftegorsk was hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 2,000 people, 1/2 of the total population.

1996  U.S. President Bill Clinton’s former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, James McDougal and Susan McDougal, and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker, were convicted of fraud.

1998 Nuclear testing: Pakistan responded to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own, prompting other nations to impose economic sanctions.

1999 After 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece “The Last Supper” was put back on display.

1999 – Two Swedish police officers were murdered with their own fire arms by the bank robbers Jackie Arklöv and Tony Olsson after a car chase.

2002 NATO declared Russia a limited partner in the Western alliance.

2002  The Mars Odyssey found signs of large ice deposits on Mars.

2003 Peter Hollingworth became the first Governor-General of Australia to resign his office as a result of criticism of his conduct.

2004  The Iraqi Governing Council chose Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq’s interim government.

2008 The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declared Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty.

2008 – In West Bengal a train derailment and subsequent collision killed 141 passengers.

2011 – Malta voted on the introduction of divorce.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Word of the day

Tolutiloquent – pertaining to a smooth talker; characterised by fluency or glibness of utterance; rapid and ready of speech.

Rural round-up

Century farmers receive awards – Sally Rae:

Farming is all John Thornton has ever known.

The 73-year-old Taieri dairy farmer has spent his entire life on the Momona property originally acquired by his grandparents in 1916.

Tonight, the Thorntons will be among 36 families recognised at the New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards in Lawrence for achieving 100 or more years farming their land.

Originally from Wigan, in Lancashire, England, Thomas Thornton brought his large family to New Zealand in the late 1800s. . . 

Farmers’ support trusts go national – Kerrie Waterworth:

Maniototo farmer, Landcare Research board member and former National Party politician Gavan Herlihy was recently elected deputy chairman of the Rural Support National Council, a new national body representing 14 regional support trusts. Mr Herlihy has had a lifetime on the land and says the rural support trusts are a lifeline for many farmers “when the chips are down”. He spoke to Kerrie Waterworth.

Q When were rural support services set up and why?

The first one was set up in North Otago in the 1980s following successive crippling droughts. That period also coincided with the aftermath of Rogernomics that had major consequences for farming at that time. After a series of major droughts in Central Otago in the 1990s the trust boundaries were expanded to take in the whole of the Otago region. . . 

New medical centre proposed for Otorohanga – Caitlin Moorby:

Thanks to a $1 million donation, Otorohanga will get a new medical centre.

Sheep and beef farmers John and Sarah Oliver made the charitable donation towards the project, which it is estimated will cost $2 to $2.2 million.

Otorohanga District Council chief executive Dave Clibbery said the donation solves a looming problem  .  . .

Gains seen for SFF with China plan – Chris Morris:

An ambitious plan by China to reboot the ancient Silk Road trading routes could deliver significant benefits to Silver Fern Farms, the company’s chief executive says.

China earlier this month unveiled the latest details of its Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2013, which will result in billions — and eventually trillions — of dollars being pumped into a new network of motorways, railways, ports and other infrastructure linking Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. . . 

Zespri 2016/17 grower returns sag despite big jumps in volume and turnover – Pattrick Smellie

(BusinessDesk) – New Zealand’s statutory kiwifruit exporter, Zespri, achieved distributable profit for its grower shareholders of $34.8 million in the year to March 31 on a 19 percent increase in turnover of $2.26 billion.

The Tauranga-based business signalled a result roughly three times stronger than is expected in the current financial year, with prospects for an extra interim dividend being paid to growers in August, despite the outlook for total fruit volumes being lower for the season ahead. . . 

Rural people shouldn’t be second class citizens for health services:

A rural health road map which sets out top priorities for healthier rural communities is being explored as one avenue to addressing the challenges the modern day farmer faces.

The Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand (RHAANZ) got together this week in Wellington for their second annual “Rural Fest’, in partnership with Federated Farmers.

For farmers, focus was on increasing pressure related to industry compliance, and the stress from dealing with frequent and intense adverse events. . . 

NZ Pork welcomes Government focus on biosecurity:

The announcement of additional operating funding for biosecurity is a vital protection for the country’s primary industries, according to New Zealand Pork.

NZ Pork, the statutory board that works on behalf of local pig farmers, says that as one of the world’s leading high-health primary industries, the local pork production sector sees biosecurity as vitally important.

Over $18million of operating funding over four years was included in Budget 2017 to help secure the biosecurity system and protect New Zealand’s borders. . . 

Employment agreements crucial this Gypsy Day:

“In an industry renowned for seasonal averaging, it is important dairy farmers focus on ensuring all current and new employees have the correct employment agreements, especially with the introduction of new employment laws in April,” says Melissa Vining, Agri Human Resources Consultant with Progressive Consulting, the human resources division of Crowe Horwath.

With Gypsy Day just around the corner, it marks the start of a new season when farms are bought and sold, and new sharemilking contracts signed. . . 

Don’t text and rake.