Coruscating – flashing; sparkling; brilliant or striking in content or style; severely critical, scathing.
Clean mud but still muck up
06/08/2017Concern over biosecurity issues with mud Rotorua plans to import for a festival have prompted the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) to issue this statement:
MPI is aware of the potential upcoming import of mud from South Korea and we have been working with the Rotorua City Council to ensure that there are no biosecurity risks associated with this shipment.
All imports of risk goods including plants and soil or clay must meet our strict biosecurity standards before being allowed into New Zealand. The product in this case, is clay (but called ‘mud’) that would be milled and filtered to remove any possible organic material, then heat treated to between 70 and 80 degrees for 72 hours, before being crushed into a fine powder. The mud is finally irradiated at 10 kilogray before it is imported.
These treatments will make the mud sterile, therefore removing any biosecurity risks.
To ensure the mud is safe, MPI will verify that the treatments have been applied before providing clearance.
We can be assured then that any mud, or clay, that gets to Rotorua will be clean.
There is much less assurance over the wisdom of spending $90,000 to import the mud which prompted a visit from the Taxpayers’ Union Porky:
The Taxpayers’ Union mascot, “Porky the Waste-hater”, visited Rotorua this morning, and awarded the Rotorua Mayor a “Supreme Achievement Award” for imagination and achievement in wasting public money, following the Mayor’s decision to spend $90,000 of public money to import five tonnes of mud from South Korea. The mud is to supplement the local variety at Rotorua’s ‘Mudtopia’ festival later in the year.
After some waiting, Ms Chadwick failed to front (apparently she was too busy). Nevertheless, an official accepted the award on her behalf.
The award recognises the most creative use of taxpayers’ money we have seen yet. The favourite pastime of our mascot Porky is playing in mud, but even he condemns this total waste of money.
Steve Chadwick has created New Zealand’s very own ‘coals to Newcastle’ story. Even the BBC has covered this ridiculous and frivolous waste.
The whole reason Rotorua Lakes Council received a tourism grant from MBIE was to promote Rotorua and its mud as a destination. Instead, these geniuses flew to Korea and used the money to buy the foreign variety.
We elect politicians to be guardians of the ratepayer and taxpayer purse. Unfortunately, that’s clearly not happening here in Rotorua.
What makes this Council’s behaviour particularly galling is the fact that Councillors tried to defend the spending in local media by saying that it’s ‘only taxpayer’ money, since a large amount was funded from an MBIE grant. What a disgraceful attitude to the hard-working taxpayers who earned that money.
It may be true that where there’s muck there’s brass, in this case it looks like a muck-up using the public’s brass.
Little matters
06/08/2017the days go by with so many little things that don’t seem to matter until they’re no longer there & suddenly, they’re all that ever mattered – Little Matters
Rural round-up
06/08/2017Rules tweak still leaves migrant dairy workers in a bind – Chris Lewis:
The Government recently relaxed the “mid-skilled” migrant salary threshold to avoid tough new restrictions down to $41,000. So why are farmers still unhappy?
They’re unhappy because in the dairy sector, salary threshold is not the problem. In submissions to the Government the dairy industry did not object to the original threshold of $49,000.
The fact is, unless the migrant worker is a farm manager or earns over $73,000, they’re deemed “low-skilled” and booted out of the country after three years. Hardly an incentive to even apply in the first place, and disruptive and expensive for the farmer, who has to look for someone else to plug the gap. . .
Alliance targets UK food service – Tony Benny:
Alliance Group has launched a pilot programme in UK targeting high-end restaurants and hotels in a bid to generate more revenue. Tony Benny reports.
Food service is growing globally while traditional retail outlets in many markets are stagnating and marketers often talk of the need for producers to shift their focus to this growth sector. Now Alliance has established a four-person team in the UK tasked with making direct connections to top chefs and building new distribution channels.
“Historically a lot of New Zealand lamb has gone into wholesale in some form and can go through three or four sets of hands before it gets to the end customer and often the end customer doesn’t know where their lamb’s coming from,” says Alliance director of food service Graham Bougen, who heads the team in UK. . .
Vet praises farming gorup’s reaction – Sally Rae:
The veterinarian who initially signalled the possibility of an outbreak of a bacterial disease not previously found in New Zealand says it has been an ”enormously stressful and harrowing experience” for the farmers involved.
Yesterday, Merlyn Hay addressed a meeting at Papakaio, outlining how confirmation of Mycoplasma bovis in cows on two Van Leeuwen Dairy Group properties unfolded.
Over the past few weeks, her priority focus – as the group’s key veterinarian – had been her client and their cows and she had ”nothing but admiration” for the way the group had conducted itself during the crisis, she said.
The care and concern shown to animals in their charge had been humbling and the group deserved empathy and respect. She hoped the community would support them as the crisis continued. . .
Neighbouring properties test negative for disease – Sally Rae:
Results have confirmed nine of the farms bordering Van Leeuwen Dairy Group properties, all tested negative for cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis.
The bacterial disease had previously been confirmed on two Van Leeuwen Dairy Group farms in the Waimate district, the first time the disease had been detected in New Zealand.
In a statement last night, Ministry for Primary Industries director of response Geoff Gwyn said the results for the nine neighbouring properties was good news but further tests, over several months, on those farms would be required before they could be declared free of the disease. . .
Urgency needed over disease tests:
The discovery of Mycoplasma bovis on two South Canterbury farms understandably has the farming community on tenterhooks.
The bacterial disease may be prevalent among cattle globally but it has never previously been detected in New Zealand.
Fortunately, it presents no food safety risk and there are no concerns about consuming milk and milk products.
But the disease has serious effects including mastitis, abortion, pneumonia and arthritis and therefore the ramifications for farmers — both financially and from an animal welfare perspective — are huge. . .
Dairy farmers still fighting debt – Richard Rennie:
Waikato and Bay of Plenty dairy farmers face a “back to the future” slog into 2020 to get back to their 2015-16 season when dairy prices took a tumble.
The latest AgFirst financial survey for Waikato-Bay of Plenty dairy farmers was released last week.
Survey compiler Phil Journeaux said the model farm used in the budget incurred an additional $126,560 of term debt, or almost $1/kg of milksolids in 2015-16 to cover the hit the farm took when the payout slumped to $3.90/kg MS that season.
“This loan amount was almost an extra $1/kg milksolids and some debt repayment was made in 2016-17 and is budgeted again for 2017-18. . .
I tried taking some high resolution photos of local farmland but they all turned out really grainy.
Sunday soapbox
06/08/2017Sunday’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.
Here comes the sun, and I say It’s all right. – Beatles