Word of the day

Xenophile – one attracted to foreign cultures, customs, people, styles or things.

Palindrome day

Today is 02.02.20, a rare palindrome day.

02-02-2020 #PalindromeDay

Today's is rare because it works BOTH for Americans who write mm/dd/yyyy and everywhere else dd/mm/yyyy.

The last universal 8-digit palindrome was 11/11/1111, 909 years ago. The next is 101 years away on 12/12/2121. After that nothing until 03/03/3030.

— Tim McCready 🇳🇿 (@Tim_McCready) February 1, 2020

It’s about trust

National leader Simon Bridges has ruled out working with New Zealand First after this year’s election:

Bridges’ messaging is all about bundling New Zealand First, Labour and the Greens together saying: “a vote for NZ First is a vote for Labour and the Greens.”

It was three years ago even though around half the people who voted for NZ First wanted it to support National in government.

“I don’t believe we can work with NZ First and have a constructive trusting relationship,” Bridges says.

“When National was negotiating in good faith with NZ First after the last election, its leader was suing key National MPs and staff. I don’t trust NZ First and I don’t believe New Zealanders can either.”

It’s about trust and Peters can’t be trusted.

This makes NZ First dependent on gaining at least 5% of the vote on September 19 unless it wins a seat.

That’s very unlikely unless Labour throws it a lifeline by campaigning for the party vote in a seat it holds.

That would be rank hypocrisy from both parties which have vehemently criticised for National holding back to help Act in Epsom.

But hypocrisy is not unusual in a politician who can’t be trusted.

Milne muses

"The path that takes us straight to its destination is a dull one indeed. It carries only the one message and when we have read it, we have read it. The winding road, however, is a continuous story. Each bend is a mystery and rounding it a discovery." C.R.Milne #SaturdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/GaTh2328BC

— A.A.Milne (@A_AMilne) February 1, 2020

Rural round-up

ETS legislation will increase costs for kiwis:

DairyNZ General Manager for Responsible Dairy Jenny Cameron is urging Parliament’s Environment Select Committee to carefully consider the implications ETS legislation could have on farms, families and communities and how they manage the impact of the transition to a low-emissions economy.

“We believe that the move to auctioning alongside the removal of the existing price cap is likely to result in a significant expansion to the revenue generated by the ETS and drive up costs” Ms Cameron said.

“The Bill could see emissions prices rise to $50 per tonne, which would mean emissions trading may be adding 14c to each litre of petrol and increasing power bills by up to 20%.

“While New Zealand farmers are not included in the ETS for their biological emissions, they are still included in the ETS for their emissions on things like power and fuel just like the rest of the country. . .

Oamaru Meats flat out – Sally Barker:

Oamaru Meats is flat out processing lambs, having regained its approval to export to China.

The company was shut down in mid-September last year after the Chinese Government suspended its permission to send beef. The situation was caused by beef fat packing that was not up to standard, director Richard Thorp said.

About 140 staff were stood down while Oamaru Meats, owned by China’s BX Foods, worked with New Zealand and Chinese authorities to reinstate the export access. . .

Third cut silage. Seems to have a bit if red clover in it….#nomnom @laurajeankeenan pic.twitter.com/LkT4mcKcRy

— Ben Allomes (@ballomes) January 29, 2020

Mum is student winner’s role model :

Lincoln University student Ngahuia Wilson is this year’s Ravensdown Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship winner.

Her commitment to the agri-sector, academic achievements, innovative thinking and passion shone through, Ravensdown said.

The $5000 scholarship is for Ravensdown shareholders’ sons and daughters studying for agriculture or horticulture degrees.

“It is going to open a lot of new doors and new paths to the things I’m passionate about,” Wilson said. . . 

New markets for new products – Neal Wallace:

Anzco has broadened the products it sells after research made possible by a Primary Growth Partnership. Neal Wallace reveals some of the new products and their uses that come from the carcase of a cattle beast.

Meat company Anzco has commercialised 26 new products as diverse as bones, blood and membranes for humans using research from a seven-year Primary Growth Partnership.

And its FoodPlus programme has identified more than 30 others and has a further eight ingredient and 10 healthcare products under consideration for commercialisation.

The $27 million Primary Growth Partnership is forecast to increase gross domestic product by $200m by 2030 and has increased jobs in the company by 102, many highly skilled and as diverse as advanced processing, technical product development and commercialisation. . . 

What about the potential of goat meat exports?  – Garrick Batten:

Long-time goat industry advocate Garrick Batten questions why NZ meat exporters have not capitalised on the inbuilt and growing Northern American demand for goat meat.

This is despite goat meat’s historically increasing prices. He also asks is why NZ pastoral farmers have not capitalised on the on-farm production advantages to produce that goat meat?

China already has the world’s biggest sheep flock; sheepmeat is well known so NZ product sales – especially mutton – have grown rapidly in recent years.

There are as many goats as sheep in China, all ending up as meat that is interchangeable with sheepmeat in the market. But our Chinese trade never mentions goat meat.  . . 

“Engage a student with their passion and they become eager to learn.”

An intriguing visit to HAS University of Applied Sciences in Holland this morning, where they’re combining tertiary education with real-life business lessons. That’s how to equip the next generation! 🍐🍅🍎🍓 pic.twitter.com/oMJQnNAl81

— Luke Chivers (@lukechiversnz) January 29, 2020

Tim Hortons pulls Beyond Meat off the menu, saying customers seem to prefer real meat – Michael Lewis:

Tim Hortons has pulled all Beyond Meat plant-based products from its restaurants less than a year after the national rollout, saying that its customers seemed to prefer the “meat option” in their sandwiches.

Under parent Restaurant Brands International Inc., Tim Hortons introduced breakfast sandwiches featuring a plant-based sausage patty in May of last year at nearly 4,000 locations, and then followed up with Beyond Meat burgers in July.

In September, the products were scaled back to Ontario and B.C. only, with the company saying that after some initial excitement, sales slowed as customers seemed to prefer the regular meat products. . . 

 

Mike Moore 28.1.49 – 2.2.20

Mike Moore ONZ AO PC has died.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Mike Moore has died. He was 71.

Moore served as prime minister with Labour from September to November in 1990, at the age of 41, installed by caucus just weeks before the 1990 general election, replacing Sir Geoffrey Palmer.

At the time he was New Zealand’s third prime minister in 13 months, and lasted 59 days until Labour lost the general election.  . . 

In 1999, Moore secured the job of director-general of the World Trade Organisation, a job he kept until 2002. . . 

His enthusiasm for trade was unbounded, although it took nearly 30 years before his idea of lamb burgers was taken up.

New Zealand owes him gratitude for his work for free trade while leading the WTO and when he was New Zealand’s ambassador to the United States.

Invisible Farmer Project – Steph Evans

The Invisible Farmer Project was an initiative of Museums Victoria:

The Invisible Farmer Project was the largest ever study of Australian women on the land, uncovering the histories and stories of Australian women in agriculture. It began as a pilot project (2015-2016) and evolved into a three year (2017-2020) nation-wide partnership between rural communities, academic, government and cultural organisations, funded by the Australian Research Council. It sought to address the historical and contemporary invisibility of Australian farm women and to celebrate the creative and vital role that women play in sustaining Australian farms and rural communities. It combined personal narratives and academic research to map the diverse, innovate and vital role of women in Australian agriculture. Key outcomes of the project were:

• Creation of new histories of rural Australia, including a series of interviews collected for Museums Victoria’s Invisible Farmer Project collection;
• Enhanced understandings about the diverse, innovative and vital role of women in agriculture and rural communities;
• Educate communities about the diverse, innovative and vital role of women in agriculture and rural communities;
• Stimulation of public discussions about contemporary issues facing rural Australia and its future;
• Development of significant public collections that will shape research, industry and public policy into the future;
• A widespread media and social media campaign that saw hundreds of thousands of community members engaging with the stories of Australian farm women via the Project’s website (www.invisiblefarmer.net.au), Instagram, Facebook and Twitter (@invisfarmer).

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.

I’m not sure if resilience is ever achieved alone. Experience allows us to learn from example. But if we have someone who loves us, I don’t mean indulges us, but who loves us enough to be on our side then it’s easier to grow resilience, to grow belief in self, to grow self-esteem. And it’s self-esteem that allows a person to stand up. – Maya Angelou