View From the Paddock: No tolerating ag bullies – Brigig Price:
It seems 2019 will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. In terms of risk, agriculture has been continually challenged and even the best performers are not exempt.
Fires, floods, targeted legislation, biosecurity threats, trespass, theft and personal attack are at the forefront of many producers’ minds.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion but it should not translate into harm and distress caused to others. . .
Skills needed ambassador says :
Cameron Russell is living proof that the sheep industry has a lot to offer young people with the right attitude and a willingness to succeed.
At 26 years of age, he is married with a child and working as stock manager on Southland’s Diamond Peak Station.
Mr Russell has worked as a shepherd and then block manager on two high-profile properties where he has honed his practical skills and knowledge. . .
Gumboots on to monitor farm freshwater health – Yvonne O’Hara:
About a dozen people braved the cold and rain to stand in a creek to look its health, at Waitahuna last Wednesday.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand southern South Island extension manager Olivia Ross hosted three workshops last week, including two at Dipton and Waikaka.
Between 15 and 20 attended the first two.
”There is quite a high level of interest,” she said. . .
Taranaki teen desperate to get a foot in the farming door – Esther Taunton:
Braydon Langton just wants someone to give him a go.
The 16-year-old has been trying to get a sheep and beef farming job since leaving school a year ago but said despite a shortage of workers, farmers were unwilling to take a chance on a young person.
“I’ve probably asked about 20 or 30 people but as soon as they hear that I haven’t got two years experience or my own dogs, they don’t want to hear any more,” he said. . .
‘Outstanding’ apple season blighted by a lack of workers willing to pick them – Skara Bohny:
The continuing trend of worryingly low numbers of fruit-pickers is marring an otherwise stellar apple season in Nelson Tasman.
The Lynch family orchard behind Fashion Food and the “world’s prettiest apples” had an “unprecedented” season, even with an extended drought and two wild-fire related evacuations.
Orchard manager Dan Lynch said his main concern was having enough workers for the entire harvest. . .
New agreement to protect citrus industry:
Biosecurity New Zealand and Citrus New Zealand have reached an agreement on how to prepare for and respond to future biosecurity threats.
Both parties signed a Sector Operational Agreement for Readiness and Response today (3 April) under the Government-Industry Agreement (GIA) partnership. They have committed to undertake a joint three-year programme of work to better protect the citrus industry from biosecurity threats.
“The GIA partnership enables us to work alongside industry to better understand the risks, and how we might deal with them if they reach our shores,” says Roger Smith, Head of Biosecurity NZ. . .
On the farm: What’s happening on farms and orchards around NZ:
In the past week Northland has had a good dollop of rain – between 60 and 80 millimetres in the east and less in the west. There is no length to the pasture but it is green. The kill schedule for prime beef has taken a sharp turn up-wards.
Around Pukekohe the heaviest rainfall for many weeks fell on Monday when 30 to 40 mm was recorded. The rain has given a significant boost to needy crops and the conversion of brown grass paddocks to green has been rapid. Our grower contact says the increase in the minimum wage rate will have a big effect on growers’ costs that will be difficult to recover in the market place and he believes it could be the tipping point for some producers to exit the industry. . .
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Homepaddock 