100-plus rivers and lakes to be improved:
Freshwater improvement projects covering over 100 rivers and lakes across New Zealand are to receive grants of $44 million from the Government, Environment Minister Nick Smith announced today.
“The Government has an ambitious plan to improve water quality in our rivers and lakes that involves stronger direction to councils, tighter regulation and funding to support projects. Today we are announcing grants of $44m for 33 projects which, with Council and other contributions, will see $142m invested in over 100 lakes and rivers.” . .
Partnership approach on freshwater quality hailed:
A partnership approach to dealing with river and lake water quality offers the best prospect of making sustained progress on problems that were often decades in the making, Federated Farmers says.
The Federation’s water spokesperson Chris Allen hailed the announcement today of an initial $44m in grants from the $100m Freshwater Improvement Fund, particularly as it will leverage a further $98 million of investment by councils, farmers, other land-owners and agencies.
In total, 33 projects covering more than 100 lakes and rivers have won funding, including at Lakes Tarawera, Horowhenua and Wanaka and involving the Manawatu, Wairoa, Waimea and Selwyn Rivers. . .
Horticulture welcomes funding for water protection project:
Government funding for a nationwide project to better protect waterways, by measuring and managing nitrogen on cropping farms, has been welcomed by Horticulture New Zealand.
Today Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith announced funding of $485,168 from the Freshwater Improvement Fund for a three-year project: Protecting our Groundwater – Measuring and Managing Diffuse Nutrient losses from Cropping Systems. . .
True value of Coromandel seafood industry realised in report released today:
Moana NZ’s oyster processing plant based just out of Coromandel Town
Coromandel mussel and oyster farmers, along with industry, iwi, businesses and agencies came together today to celebrate the findings of a report which demonstrates the real economic and social value of aquaculture to the Thames-Coromandel and surrounding regions.
Some of the key findings from “The Economic Contribution of Marine Farming in the Thames-Coromandel District,” written by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) include: . .
NZ beef export market faces headwinds, AgriHQ says – Tina Morrison:
(BusinessDesk) – Headwinds are building for New Zealand exports of beef, the country’s largest meat export, according to AgriHQ.
The outlook for beef prices is weakening in the US, the largest market for New Zealand beef, after a United States Department of Agriculture report showed cattle numbers at a nine-year high as farmers rebuild their herds following heavy culling in 2014 and 2015, with most of the increase in beef cows rather than dairy cows. Elsewhere, Japan has temporarily lifted the tariff on frozen beef from New Zealand, rival exporter Australia has increased supplies, and a rise in the New Zealand dollar . .
CropLogic’s ASX float underwritten by Australian corporate adviser Hunter Capital – Paul McBeth:
(BusinessDesk) – CropLogic, the agricultural technology company which counts Powerhouse Ventures as a shareholder, will have its initial public offering underwritten to ensure it crosses the A$5 million threshold.
Sydney-based Hunter Capital Advisors has been acting as a corporate adviser to CropLogic and has committed to ensuring its public listing succeeds, acting as an underwriter for the offer, CropLogic said in a statement yesterday. Christchurch-based CropLogic is offering 40 million shares at 20 Australian cents apiece to raise as much as A$8 million and listing on the ASX. Those funds will pay for market development, research and development, working capital, and to cover the cost of listing, which is a certainty with the underwrite. . .
The great food disruption: part 3 – Rosie Bosworth:
Milk without the cow, meatless burgers that bleed, chicken and shrimp made from plant matter, and now foie gras without a force-fed goose in sight. A new food revolution enabled by science and biotech is brewing and, if it succeeds, animals will have little to do with the future of food. For some, that future looks rosy, but, as Dr. Rosie Bosworth writes in part three of a series, the implications for New Zealand’s agricultural sector could be less than palatable.
For all its promise, synbio and lab-made food need to overcome a number of challenges and not everyone is convinced it will be the solution to the problems of conventional animal agriculture. This gives New Zealand at least a small window of respite while it assesses a potential road ahead without the farm.
4,500 Years of Crop Protection: – Mark Ross:
Like all agricultural innovations, crop protection products have evolved tremendously since their inception. From natural chemical elements, to plant and metal-based insecticides, to synthetic products, formulations have drastically changed for the better. Today’s products are more sustainable, targeted, efficient and environmentally-friendly than their predecessors.
The first recorded use of an insecticide was about 4,500 years ago by the Sumarians, who used sulphur compounds to control insects and mites attacking their food sources. In the first century B.C., Romans made a compound from crushed olives, burnt sulphur and salt to control ants and weeds in their crops. In 800 A.D., the Chinese used arsenic mixed with water to control insects in their field crops and citrus orchards. Other pesticides, derived from natural sources such as pyrethrum from dried Chrysanthemum flowers and nicotine extract from tobacco plants, evolved over time. . .
Farmers do cry over spilt milk.
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