Wrapping bales a job for kings – Liam Hehir:
If I could do anything with my life, it would be this…
When you grow up on a small farm you find that weird affections stay with you for the rest of your life. For example, the whiff of silage is really comforting to me. Same with cows first thing in the morning and the relentless beat of the engine room in the shed. It’s weird.
Then there are things like the wonderful feeling that comes with walking home after the morning milking, the day still crisp and new. Getting in bone tired from a miserable day, kicking off your boots and overalls and drying off in front of the fire is another one. So is letting a bunch calves into a paddock for the first time since they were born — the sigh of which will never not make me smile.
But nothing ever made me happier than the prospect of wrapping baleage in the early summer. If there were some way I could do that for a job and support my family, I’d take it in a heartbeat. Not even joking. . .
European Meat Sector issues dire warning about impact of hard Brexit – Allan Barber:
The European Livestock and Meat Trades Union (UECBV), the body that represents producers, consumers and distributors of meat, has commissioned a report entitled The EU Meat Industry in a hard Brexit scenario – CRISIS. The major finding of the report concludes the impact of a hard Brexit would be a catastrophic disaster for both UK and Europe because of the reversion to WTO tariff arrangements.
A hard Brexit would arise if there is no agreement between the UK and Europe on key issues – divorce bill, the Irish border, citizens’ rights, future trade relationship – by the end of March 2019 when the notice period expires. At this point, nearly 18 months since the referendum voted to leave the EU and eight months since the final exit date was triggered, but looking at it from the outside British negotiators had made no tangible progress at all until an announcement of an unspecified agreement on the exit cost late last week. . .
“Knack’ required to work with deer – Yvonne O’Hara:
Logan Bain and Caleb Neilson are among the next generation of deer farmers.
Both work at Landcorp’s Thornicroft Station near Lake Mahinerangi and both are interested in deer and can imagine their futures linked to the industry in some way.
Mr Neilson (22) is the station’s deer manager, along with station manager Lindsay Cunningham.
Mr Bain (21) has just finished his last year at Lincoln University and was on his second day as shepherd at the station when Southern Rural Life talked to him.
Mr Neilson starting working with the station’s sheep and cattle before moving to the deer unit, which has about 2500 hinds plus fawns, and 100 stags.
He grew up on a sheep and beef farm in the Maniototo but had always liked deer. . .
Farmers’ Satisfaction with Banks Remains Stable, Survey Shows:
The level of investment required in modern dairy farming is underlined in the latest Federated Farmers Banking Survey, with the size of mortgages and the number of dairy farms with overdrafts increasing.
Across dairy and non-dairy sectors, three quarters of the 480 farmers who responded to the survey said they felt under the same pressure from their banks as six months ago. Eight per cent said they felt under more pressure and just under 10 per cent were feeling less pressure. . .
New podiTRAP a long time in the making – Kate Guthrie:
Inventing a new kind of trap can be a slow kind of process. Sometimes you don’t even know you’re on that journey until you’re well on your way. Take the podiTRAP for example. It’s probably still a year away from commercial release, but the podiTRAP may well be ‘the tool to use’ in the future.
“I never expected it to be where it is now,” says its inventor, Pouri Rakete-Stones. “It’s evolved into this big monster project!”
Pouri is an engineer by trade. He spent 10 years as a fitter/welder, doing research and development work on machinery, before getting involved with Hawkes Bay kiwi conservation and outdoor education organisation ECOED in 2010. . .
Bugs as snacks among UF/IFAS experts’ predicted 2018 food trends – Brad Buck:
From eating bugs for protein to raising chickens in your backyard to eat their eggs, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences experts say some food trends grow in popularity over time. Here are the food trends for 2018, as predicted by some UF/IFAS faculty:
Are you bug-eyed for protein?
Insects are trending as a food source and are now being termed “micro-livestock,” said Rebecca Baldwin, a UF/IFAS associate professor of entomology. In fact, a chef who advocates for edible insects has attracted the attention of the Entomological Society of America and will speak to the group in Denver in November. . .
Homepaddock 