Rugby history was made in Sydney tonight – Los Pumas beat the All Blacks for the first time.
We were in Japan last year when England beat New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final and it looked much the same – the ABs didn’t seem to have a plan for when the game didn’t go their way. When the pressure went on they just kept doing the same things that hadn’t worked before and they kept making errors.
This is the first time the ABs have lost two games in a row since 2011.
That isn’t good for them but it is good for Argentina and it is good for rugby.
Carminative – relieving flatulence; a drug that relieves flatulence; a herb or preparation intended to either prevent formation of gas in the gastrointestinal tract or facilitate the expulsion of said gas, thereby combatting flatulence and/or relieving abdominal pain or distention.
If you are serious about wanting to improve education, do not vote more money for the education establishment that has been dumbing down the schools for years. Vote for vouchers, tax credits, or anything else that will transfer decision-making power to parents.
Dan Herries manages Taramoa Station in Puketitiri, Hawke’s Bay, a 564 hectare sheep and beef farm which lies between two significant and beautiful blocks of forest – an 800-year-old, unmilled podocarp forest known as Ball’s Clearing Scenic Reserve and Kaweka Forest Park where once-burnt faces have now regenerated with manuka and softwoods and original red and mountain beech grows in the gullies and on the tops.
The stunning landscape and rich birdlife has a deep influence on his farming philosophy.
“Taramoa has a 10km forest park boundary,” Herries explains. “It’s the only land between the two reserves. There are kiwi, kaka, kakariki, robins and bats at Ball’s Clearing and on the farm, as well as the usual tomtits, tūī, bellbirds etc. We have a holistic philosophy of farming the whole ecosystem,” he adds. “We open our eyes to what we’ve got and work out what we need to do so they thrive.” . .
Keen bakers around the country are making muffins with flour milled by a cocky from Canterbury.
Marty Scurr is a cropping farmer at Sheffield and is milling his own wheat using a stone mill he imported from Austria last year.
“It’s basically a large scale trial to see if it works, and it’s terribly inefficient for time, but it’s looking promising!”
He believes he’s the only conventional farmer in the country milling grain to make flour. Currently he’s growing three varieties of single-origin milling wheat for the process. . .
New Zealanders are devouring an additional one million punnets of blueberries every year and our renewed focus on maintaining good health will likely see sales skyrocket again this summer.
New grocery statistics show we consumed a record 8 million punnets of blueberries last year worth over $30 million – a 1.1 million punnet increase (or 15.2%) on the 2019/20 blueberry season. An almost identical rise was recorded the year before, confirming a huge surge in popularity for the humble blueberry.
Blueberries New Zealand Chairman Dan Peach attributes that success to a number of factors including the fruit’s high-profile partnership with Olympian Eliza McCartney who has been their ambassador for the past five years.
But he also predicts our COVID-19 lockdown experience will likely push sales up even further this summer. . .
Two Waikato producers have joined forces to create the world’s first tea-infused cow’s milk cheese.
The Tea Gouda cheese is a fusion of green and black tea grown in the Zealong Tea Estate near Gordonton and Gouda cheese made by Meyer Cheese, which runs its dairy farm and cheese factory just outside Hamilton.
The cheese is sold online via Meyer Cheese website.
Meyer Cheese general manager Miel Meyer told Dairy News that the collaboration was not a one-off idea but an evolution of thoughts after a few years of connecting, drinking tea and eating cheese and discussion around business and Waikato related topics. . .
Ex-farmer Daniel Payton is now using his knowledge and practical experience to help farmers make changes to their system, while retaining a viable and profitable business.
Payton, 37, is Perrin Ag’s newest consultant. One of his first projects is working as part of a larger team to complete work for the Government’s One Billion Trees Programme – an initiative that aims to increase tree planting across New Zealand, targeting one billion trees planted by 2028.
Perrin Ag is being funded by Te Uru Rākau (Foresty New Zealand) and key industry organisations to develop case studies from ten farms across the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Rangitikei.
The aim of these studies is to demonstrate how different species of trees can be successfully integrated into a variety of farming systems. . .
Animal health company Zoetis has once again raised $100,000 to support the mental health challenges facing rural Australians.
Since the campaign with Beyond Blue started in 2016, Zoetis has raised more than $500,000.
For the fifth year in a row, Zoetis has achieved its $100,000 goal by donating $5 from each sale of the company’s cattle, sheep, pig, poultry and goat vaccines and drenches.
The funds raised have gone directly to the Beyond Blue Support Service to continue supporting people, including those living in remote areas, by providing free advice, counselling and referrals 24 hours a day, seven days a week. . .
Take an Icelandic film, give it an Australian makeover and what do you get? You get Rams:
Kiwi actor Sam Neill is starring in an Aussie remake of an award-winning Icelandic film.
Despite being an Australian creation by way of Iceland, the synopsis for the film has a distinctly Kiwi flavour of the woolly variety.
“In remote Western Australia, two estranged brothers, Colin (Sam Neill) and Les (Michael Caton), are at war,” it reads.
“Raising separate flocks of sheep descended from their family’s prized bloodline, the two men work side by side yet are worlds apart. When Les’ prize ram is diagnosed with a rare and lethal illness, authorities order a purge of every sheep in the valley.
“While Colin attempts to stealthily outwit the powers that be, Les opts for angry defiance. But can the warring brothers set aside their differences and have a chance to reunite their family, save their herd, and bring their community back together?” . .
Minister, two basic rules of government: Never look into anything you don't have to. And never set up an enquiry unless you know in advance what its findings will be.
Today, I heard a plant-based burger company refer to their product as “plant-based beef”. I find that label confusing or maybe even misleading. The artist of this master piece has figured it out! pic.twitter.com/3Huux8vmTF
Saturday’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.
Be patient with yourself, nothing in nature blooms all year.
Posted by homepaddock 
