Word of the day

Perfidious – deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful and untrustworthy.

Rural round-up

Man who coined Gypsy Day says controversy ‘ridiculous’:

Former Northland rural report broadcaster Goldie Wardell is amused, but slightly miffed, that a term he introduced to New Zealand’s farming lexicon is now being called derogatory, and is banned in some circles.

It’s Gypsy Day. There, we’ve said it (while we still can).

“I’ve come in to confess,” Mr Wardell announced not too penitently. “I started the expression.”

Mr Wardell’s voice sounds familiar as he relates the story of how, back in the 1980s, he coined the phrase Gypsy Day for June 1, the traditional day sharemilkers pack up their cows and households and move to a new farm. . . 

Primary Sector Science Roadmap launched:

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Science and Innovation Minister Paul Goldsmith have tonight launched the Primary Sector Science Roadmap at the National Fieldays.

Mr Guy says science will be a key driver in lifting overall primary sector exports to the target of $64 billion by 2025.

“From climate change, to changing consumer preferences, to a greater emphasis on issues like traceability and provenance, science and technology have an important role to play in ensuring our primary industries remain globally competitive,” says Mr Guy. . . 

Smaller New Zealand wine vintage is full of promise:

The 2017 grape harvest has come in smaller than expected according to New Zealand Winegrowers.

The 2017 Vintage Survey shows the harvest totalled 396,000 tonnes, down 9% on last year said
Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand Winegrowers. “Given strong demand in overseas markets
wineries had been looking forward to a larger harvest this year. With the smaller vintage however,
export volume growth is likely to be more muted in the year ahead.”

Mr Gregan said the smaller vintage was due to weather conditions. “Generally summer weather was
very positive but there were some challenges as the season progressed.” . . . 

More success for Patersons – Sally Rae:

The Paterson family, from Gimmerburn, have added to their considerable farming successes by winning the New Zealand ewe hogget competition.

The awards night for the competition, which was in its 21st year, was held in Cromwell on Thursday.The family won both the fine wool and crossbreed categories and the overall title went to their crossbreed flock.

Father and son Allan and Simon Paterson, with their respective wives, Eris and Sarah, are the fourth and fifth generations to farm Armidale, which has been in the family since the 1880s. . . 

Positive steps towards tackling stock theft:

Federated Farmers is delighted to see the Sentencing (Livestock Rustling) Amendment Bill being drawn from the ballot to go before Parliament.

Livestock theft is not only a financial burden to farming businesses but also a risk to people’s safety. Farmers are often alone when confronting stock thieves.

“It’s frightening when you are faced with someone in a remote rural area who is most likely armed. The successful passing of this bill would show the victims of livestock rustling that the justice system is prepared to take these crimes seriously,” says Rick Powdrell, Federated Farmers’ Rural Security Spokesperson. . . 

More farmers seeking information on how to comply with water quality rules:

More Otago farmers are looking for information and advice on how to minimise their operation’s impact on water quality and comply with rules in the Otago Water Plan.

That’s one of the key findings of the Otago Regional Council’s annual survey to monitor the level of understanding and uptake among farmers about meeting their responsibilities under the Water Plan. . . 

Ravensdown Joins Agrigate Online Platform:

The Agrigate team has added another heavyweight data partner to the online tool, signing an agreement with agri-nutrient provider Ravensdown.

The agreement, signed last week, will see Ravensdown’s pasture and nutrient data added to the array of information that farmers can access using Agrigate.

Ravensdown captures and presents data on soil tests, nutrient status, pasture performance and proof of placement to drive better decisions.  . .

Live calf probiotic a world-first at Fieldays:

In a first for Fieldays, New Zealand company BioBrew is preparing to showcase CalfBrew, a live animal probiotic.

BioBrew will present its innovative product at the Callaghan Innovation Centre at this week’s Fieldays. CalfBrew is the first fresh probiotic containing live, active microbes to treat scouring and support optimal gut health in calves more effectively than current freeze-dried probiotics. As a world-first live probiotic supplement, CalfBrew has also demonstrated increased growth rate in calves. . . 

Wallace Corporation and Farm Brands Announce Merger:

Wallace Corporation Limited and Farm Brands Limited today announced the completion of the merger of their respective coproducts businesses and operations, to create Wallace Group Limited Partnership. The new multi-million dollar entity will also acquire the assets and business of Dunedin rendering business, Keep It Clean Ltd.

The merger of the two multigenerational coproducts businesses aims to optimise its processing capability, including developing higher value finished products, and establish an expanded casualty cow collection service in the South Island. . .  

Dairy sector well placed to take advantage of technology revolution:

Higher dairy payouts have put dairy farmers in a good position to take advantage of new technologies that will redefine farm efficiency in the years ahead, according to ANZ’s Managing Director Commercial & Agri, Mark Hiddleston.

“While diary and other commodity markets remain changeable, a higher payout provides an opportunity for our dairy farming customers to pay down some of the debt they’ve built up, and to reinvest in their businesses,” Mr Hiddleston said. . . 

Quote of the day

To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization. l– Harriet Beecher Stowe who was born on this day in 1811

June 14 in history

1158 – Munich was founded by Henry the Lion on the banks of the river Isar.

1216 – First Barons’ War: Prince Louis of France captured the city of Winchester and soon conquered over half of the Kingdom of England.

1276 – While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Song Dynasty court held the coronation ceremony for the young prince Zhao Shi, making himEmperor Duanzong of Song.

1287 Kublai Khan defeated the force of Nayan and other traditionalist Borjigin princes in East Mongolia and Manchuria.

1381 Richard II met leaders of Peasants’ Revolt on Blackheath. The Tower of London was stormed by rebels who entered without resistance.

1645 English Civil War: Battle of Naseby – 12,000 Royalist forces were beaten by 15,000 Parliamentarian soldiers.

1775 American Revolutionary War: the Continental Army was established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United States Army.

1777 The Stars and Stripes was adopted by Congress as the Flag of the United States.

1789 Mutiny on the Bounty: Bounty mutiny survivors including CaptainWilliam Bligh and 18 others reached Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,000-mile) journey in an open boat.

1789 – Whiskey distilled from maize was first produced by American clergyman the Rev Elijah Craig. It was named Bourbon because Rev Craig lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky.

1800 The French Army of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in Northern Italy and re-conquered Italy.

1807 Emperor Napoleon I’s French Grande Armee defeated the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.

1811 Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author, was born (d. 1896).

1821 Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrendered his throne and realm to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of that Sudanese kingdom.

1822 Charles Babbage proposed a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society entitled “Note on the application of machinery to the computation of astronomical and mathematical tables”.

1839 Henley Royal Regatta: the village of Henley staged its first Regatta.

1846 Bear Flag Revolt began – Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California, started a rebellion against Mexico and proclaimed the California Republic.

1863 American Civil War: Battle of Second Winchester – a Union garrison was defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia.

1863 Second Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudsonduring the American Civil War.

1864 Alois Alzheimer, German physician, was born (d. 1915).

1872 Trade unions were legalised in Canada.

1900 Hawaii became a United States territory.

1900 The Reichstag approved a second law that allowed the expansion of the German navy.

1907 Nicolas Bentley, British writer and illustrator, was born (d. 1978).

1907 Norway adopted female suffrage.

1909 Burl Ives, American musician, was born (d. 1995).

1919 John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown left St. John’s, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight

1928 Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Marxist Revolutionary, was born (d. 1967).

1929 Cy Coleman, American composer, was born (d. 2004).

1937 – U. S. House of Representatives passed the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act.

1936 Renaldo “Obie” Benson, singer (The Four Tops), was born (d. 2005).

1938 Action Comics issue one was released, introducing Superman.

1940 World War II: Paris fell under German occupation, and Allied forces retreat.

1940 The Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania resulting in Lithuanian loss of independence

1940 A group of 728 Polish political prisoners from Tarnów become the first inmates of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

1941 June deportation, the first major wave of Soviet mass deportations and murder of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, began.

1942 Anne Frank began to keep a diary.

1946 Donald Trump, American businessman and entrepreneur, was born.

1949 – Alan White, British drummer (Yes), was born.

1950 Rowan Williams, 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, was born.

1951 UNIVAC I was dedicated by U.S. Census Bureau.

1952 The keel was laid for the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus.

1954 U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law that places the words “under God” into the United States’ Pledge of Allegiance.

1959 A group of Dominican exiles with leftist tendencies that departed from Cuba landed in the Dominican Republic with the intent of deposingRafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. All but four were killed and/or executed by Trujillo’s army

1961 Boy George, British singer (Culture Club), was born,

1962 – The European Space Research Organisation was established in Paris.

1962 The New Mexico Supreme Court in the case of Montoya v. Bolack, 70 N.M. 196, prohibits state and local governments from denying Indians the right to vote because they live on a reservation.

1966 The Vatican announced the abolition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (index of prohibited books), which was originally instituted in 1557.

1967 Mariner 5 was launched toward Venus.

1976 The trial began at Oxford Crown Court of Donald Neilson, the killer known as the Black Panther.

1982 The Falklands War ended: Argentine forces in the capital Stanley unconditionally surrendered to British forces.

1984 Robert Muldoon called a snap election.

1985 TWA Flight 847 was hijacked by Hezbollah shortly after take-off from Athens.

1990 Miners from Jiu Valley were called to Bucharest by President Ion Iliescu to quell demonstrations in University Square by anti-government protesters.

2001 China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan form the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

2002 – Near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN missed the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

2014 – A Ukraine military Ilyushin Il-76 airlifter was shot down, killing all 49 people on board.

2015 – A wildfire near Willow, Alaska in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough burned over 6,500 acres.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.