Word of the day

Terror – extreme fear; an instance or cause of intense fear or anxiety; violence committed by a person, group, or government in order to frighten people and achieve a political goal; a person, especially a child, who causes trouble or annoyance.

Rural round-up

Farmer groups set out to improve water quality – Sally Rae:

A new project set up in North Otago is aimed at helping farmers learn about how their activities can impact onwater quality.

Seven small ”pods” of farmers are being set up. Their members are setting achievable goals to achieve better water quality and then taking action to reach them.

The initiative is part of the ”local solutions built by local people” approach being taken by North Otago Sustainable Land Management Group (Noslam).

The project was a good way for the community to work together to find solutions for water quality in the Kakanui catchment, spokeswoman Jane Smith said.

The Otago Regional Council supported the approach being taken to help farmers meet their obligations under the water plan, which gave them room to be innovative in their farming practices, as long as they did not harm water quality, she said. . . 

Salmon net sabotage will cost farm $150k – Lydia Anderson:

Staff at a South Island salmon farm have been left reeling after vandals cut one of its nets and released 6000 young salmon into the wild.

High Country Salmon, near Twizel, has lost about $150,000 in earnings after the 800g salmon were cut free on Friday night.

Manager John Jamieson said he got an urgent call on Saturday from his workers, saying that one of the the farm’s topline nets had been cut. . . 

Learning from Tillamook dairy – Keith Woodford:

This last week I have been in Tillamook, in Western Oregon. Together with three colleagues from Calder Stewart, I have been exploring the dairy systems here, to see what learnings we can bring back to New Zealand.

Tillamook is a high rainfall zone on the Pacific Coast and has much of the same feel about it as the West Coast of New Zealand.  It is one of the few places in the world where dairy cows can be grazed on perennial pastures, and using the same grass species as we use in New Zealand. The latitude is 45 degrees North, which is a latitudinal mirror image of Oamaru, Alexandra and South Westland.  But climatically, it Westland that is the best comparison. . . 

Fit for transport animal welfare app launched today:

The Ministry for Primary Industries has launched a mobile app that helps farmers, transporters, stock agents and veterinarians determine whether an animal is fit for transport.

Developed with industry and vets, the app is an easy and efficient tool to help people make the right decision for the welfare of animals. It consolidates available information in to one place and doesn’t require internet access, which makes it suitable for on-farm use. . . 

Erosion control funding round opens:

Associate Minister for Primary Industries Louise Upston has welcomed the opening of the next round of funding for erosion control in the Gisborne region.

The Ministry of Primary Industries’ Erosion Control Funding Programme (ECFP) helps eligible land owners in the region contain erosion and improve susceptible land.

Improvements were recently made to the programme, including providing upfront funding to reduce the financial burden for land owners and extending the land categories eligible for treatment. . . 

Tis the season… for calf rearing:

It’s the busiest time of the farming year.

Between July and October many dairy farmers will be run off their feet with calving. Up at the crack of dawn (or even earlier), checking cows and not finishing until well after the sun has gone down.

To help prepare their members for another busy season, Dairy Women’s Network are running their annual ‘Successful Calf Rearing’ workshops in the regions from late May through to early July. . . 

NZ log prices advance in ‘humming’ forestry sector, AgriHQ says – Tina Morrison

(BusinessDesk) – New Zealand export log prices generally rose this month, as key fundamentals move in the country’s favour, AgriHQ said.

Prices lifted through all unpruned export log grades this month, while pruned logs experienced some minor weakness, according to AgriHQ’s monthly survey of exporters, forest owners and saw millers.

“The key fundamentals at the wharf gate have swung ever so slightly into NZ exporters’ favour,” AgriHQ analyst Reece Brick said in his report titled ‘Forestry sectors keeping humming’. . . 

Substantial pastoral station placed on the market for sale:

An expansive sheep and beef station has been placed on the market for sale. Waipaoa Station spreads across 1667 hectares some 58 kilometres north-west of Gisborne.

Waipaoa Station winters 16,500 stock units over 87 subdivided paddocks of easy-medium terrain, in conjunction with 358.5 hectares of adjoining leased pasture land subdivided into a further 12 paddocks. The property is being marketed for sale by Tender through Bayleys Gisborne – with tenders closing on June 16th 2017. . . 

Rural coverage not sparking

Technological progress ought to bring better mobile coverage but we’ve found it’s got  worse when we’re on the road.

We used to get good reception up the Waitaki Valley from Duntroon to the Otematata saddle, now it’s intermittent.

State Highway 1 from Christchurch south has suffered a similar drop in reliable reception and on other roads we use often, coverage is no longer consistent.

My farmer and I were blaming new phones and called into a Spark shop to discuss the issue last week.

The helpful young man who served us fired up his computer which told him that the changeover to 3G means rural coverage isn’t sparking as it used to. It’s led to patchy reception in many of the areas where it used to be better.

Friends who use Vodafone and 2Degrees tell us they are faring no better.

This isn’t just a matter of convenience.

Reliable mobile coverage is necessary for many rural businesses and it can also be a matter of safety when there’s an accident or illness.

We’re in desperate need of a bright spark to come up with a solution to improve reception and ensure mobile coverage is at its sparkling best.

 

Quote of the day

So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.  – Mitch Albom who celebrates his 59th birthday today.

May 23 in history

844 – Battle of Clavijo: The Apostle Saint James the Greater is said to have miraculously appeared to a force of outnumbered Spanish rebels and aided them against the forces of the Emir of Cordoba.

1430 Siege of Compiègne: Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne.

1498 Girolamo Savonarola was burned at the stake in Florence on the orders of Pope Alexander VI.

1533 The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon was declared null and void.

1568 The Netherlands declared their independence from Spain.

1568  Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, brother of William I of Orange, defeated Jean de Ligne, Duke of Aremberg and his loyalist troops in theBattle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years’ War.

1618 The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitated the Thirty Years’ War.

1701  After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd was hanged.

1706 Battle of Ramillies: John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeated a French army under Marshal Villeroi.

1805 Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned King of Italy with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in the Cathedral of Milan.

1810 Margaret Fuller, American journalist and feminist, was born  (d. 1850).

1813  Simón Bolívar entered Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and was proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”).

1820 James Buchanan Eads, American engineer and inventor, was born  (d. 1887).

1829 Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian.

1844  Declaration of the Báb: a merchant of Shiraz announced that he was a Prophet and founded a religious movement. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Bahá’í Faith, and Bahá’ís celebrate the day as a holy day.

1846 Mexican-American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declared war on the United States.

1855 Isabella Ford, English socialist, feminist, trade unionist and writer, was born (d. 1924).

1861 – The first major gold rush in Otago started after Tasmanian Gabriel Read found gold ‘shining like the stars in Orion on a dark, frosty night’ near the Tuapeka River.

1863 Organisation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan.

1863  The Siege of Port Hudson.

1863  American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney became the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner.

1873  The Canadian Parliament established the North West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

1875 Alfred P. Sloan, American long-time president and chairman of General Motors, was born  (d. 1966).

1907  The unicameral Parliament of Finland gathered for its first plenary session.

1911 The New York Public Library was dedicated.

1915  World War I: Italy joined the Allies after they declared war on Austria-Hungary.

1923  Launch of Belgium’s SABENA airline.

1928 Nigel Davenport, English actor, was born (d. 2013).

1929 The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse, “The Karnival Kid“, was released.

1933 Joan Collins, English actress, was born.

1934  American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed by police and killed in Black Lake, Louisiana.

1934 The Auto-Lite Strike culminated in the “Battle of Toledo”, a five-day melée between 1,300 troops of the Ohio National Guard and 6,000 picketers.

1939  The U.S. Navy submarine USS Squalus sank  during a test dive, causing the death of 24 sailors and two civilian technicians.

1945 World War II:  Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, committed suicide while in Allied custody.

1945  World War II: The Flensburg government under Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz was dissolved when its members are captured and arrested by British forces at Flensburg in Northern Germany.

1949 Alan Garcia, President of Peru, was born.

1949  The Federal Republic of Germany was established and the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany was proclaimed.

1951 Tibetans signed the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with China.

1956 Mark Shaw, New Zealand rugby footballer, was born.

1958  Explorer 1 ceased transmission.

1958 – Mitch Albom, American journalist, author, and screenwriter, was born.

1966   Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the first Maori Queen,  was crowned.

1967 Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran and blockaded the port of Eilat at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping, laying the foundations for the Six Day War.

1995  Oklahoma City bombing: The remains of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building were imploded.

1995  The first version of the Java programming language was released.

1998 The Good Friday Agreement was accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes.

2002  The “55 parties ca;use”of the  Kyoto protocol was reached after its ratification by Iceland.

2004 Part of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport‘s Terminal 2E collapsed, killing four people and injuring three others.

2005 The fastest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka opened at Six Flags Great Adventure.

2006  Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupted.

2008  The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.

2010 – Jamaican police began a manhunt for drug lord Christopher “Dudus” Coke, after the United States requested his extradition, leading tothree days of violence during which at least 73 bystanders were killed.

2013 – The Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River collapsed in Mount Vernon, Washington.

2014 – Seven people, including the perpetrator,were killed and another 13 injured in a killing spree near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara.

2015 – At least 46 people were killed as a result of floods caused by a tornado in Texas and Oklahoma.

2016 – Eight bombings were carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Jableh and Tartus, coastline cities in Syria. 184 people were killed and at least 200 people injured.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.