Rural round-up

Southland farmers raise concerns about Australia luring workers across the Tasman –

Australia is providing financial incentives to lure New Zealand immigrant dairy workers across the Tasman.

Southland Federated Farmers sharemilker chairman Jason Herrick said the incentives amounted to thousands of dollars, including relocation costs and bonuses for staying in jobs at least eight weeks.

And they will be re-united with family currently still overseas.

Herrick said immigrant workers on his farm were telling him almost daily of workers leaving New Zealand – although he acknowledged that had slowed a bit with Covid-19 issues. . .

Water reforms could heavily impact rural New Zealand – Annette Scott:

The Government’s intention to reform local government water services into multi-regional entities has the potential to impact heavily on rural communities.

In July 2020, the Government launched the Three Waters Reform programme, a three-year programme to address the challenges facing council-owned and operated three water services.

Government is proposing to establish four publicly-owned entities to take responsibility for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure across New Zealand. The Government has considered the evidence and proposes that four large water entities will create an affordable system that ensures secure delivery of safe drinking water and resilient wastewater and stormwater systems.

At present, 67 councils provide most of the country’s three waters services. . .

Water reform details scarce – Neal Wallace:

District councils are questioning the lack of detail with the Government’s Three Waters reforms, but are so far reserving judgement.

Its proposal creates four publicly-owned water companies to manage drinking, waste and stormwater assets, along with debt appropriated from 67 councils.

Mayors are frustrated the Government is not listening to their concerns, evident by being given just eight weeks to provide feedback on the proposals.

Other concerns included consultation, the speed of the reforms, local input into the new entity’s decisions, asset valuation, what happens to councils who decline to join the new entities and how communities decide whether or not to be involved. . .

Springers happy as in some pretty average weather. Amazing what some decent shelter does. pic.twitter.com/31rZ1fFSKv

— Anieka Templer (@AniekaNick) August 9, 2021

Spring lambing percentages expected to dip – David Hill:

Spring lamb numbers are expected to be down around the region.

North Canterbury scanning contractor Daniel Wheeler said scanning results had been mixed around the region and the season’s drought had taken its toll.

The Amberley-based contractor pregnancy scanned ewes in the North Canterbury and Ellesmere areas.

He estimated scanning percentages were down about 10 to 20%. . .

New T&G company VentureFruit to develop new berry and fruit varieties :

Fruit and vegetable producer and marketer T&G Global is launching a new business to develop and commercialise new fruit varieties.

The new company called VentureFruit will focus on new varieties of boysenberries, blackberries, blueberries, hybrid berries and other fruit trees.

Coinciding with its launch, VentureFruit has signed two key partnerships. It is co-investing alongside science organisation Plant & Food Research in a range of new berries, of which VentureFruit will be the exclusive global commercialisation partner.

In addition, it is also partnering with Plant IP Partners to test and evaluate new varieties of apples which have been bred in New Zealand. . . 

 

 

You Bogged it mate? pic.twitter.com/pehZbhE9XW

— Brian Leahy (@BrianLeahy11) August 9, 2021

Farmers urged to push 2021 Love Lamb Week campaign :

Sheep farmers are being encouraged to get behind next month’s Love Lamb Week to help promote the sector to the general public.

The UK sheep sector is preparing to celebrate another Love Lamb Week at the beginning of September following a year of market turbulence.

Farmers are being encouraged to spur on their local community to get involved in promotional activities for the annual campaign.

Now in its seventh year, Love Lamb Week, running from 1 to 7 September, encourages the domestic consumption of UK lamb at its peak season of availability. . . 

Rural round-up

Irrigation brings environmental improvements Greenpeace wants – Andrew Curtis:

I am sure Greenpeace felt very proud of themselves when they locked themselves inside a Central Plains Water irrigation pipe to “protest dairy intensification”.

They shouldn’t be. Quite apart from putting themselves at risk on a dangerous construction site, breaking the law and tying up police time, they were wrong on a number of counts.

The first problem with the Greenpeace protest was the idea that irrigation schemes like Central Plains Water automatically lead to more dairy intensification. This is not true. The new farms connecting to Central Plains Water are traditional mixed cropping farms. The same holds true for other new irrigation developments like the Hurunui Water Project in North Canterbury, the North Otago Irrigation Company and Hunter Downs in South Canterbury. Across the country, around 50 percent of irrigated land has other uses – growing food, raising sheep and beef cattle, and for wineries. . .

Hawke’s Bay honey company stung by theft:

A Hawke’s Bay honey company has been stung by the theft of almost 500,000 bees.

Nineteen hives of Arataki Honey were stolen from a remote forestry block in Putere, an hour and a half north of Napier, this week.

The site was hidden from the road and Arataki Honey’s field manager Duncan Johnstone said the thieves must have known where to find the bees.

It was an expensive loss for the company – each hive is valued at $700 and all up it was a $20,000 loss. . .

QE II Trust Members reappointed:

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry today announced the re-appointment of two members of the Queen Elizabeth ll National Trust.

“I’m delighted Chairperson James Guild (MNZA) and Director Bruce Wills have agreed to stay on the board and continue the excellent work underway as the Trust celebrates its 40th anniversary,” Ms Barry says.

“Both men will serve another 3-year term and use their considerable skills and experience to ensure the Trust continues to win support from landowners willing to covenant their land for future generations. . .

Dairy industry set for big crash – Susan Murray:

The dairy sector faces another big price drop if the industry doesn’t continue to push for innovative ways to use dairy protein, warns KPMG.

Dairy companies need to think of themselves as protein or nutrition companies, said KPMG global head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot.

He said there will be 10 or more items able to compete with traditional natural cow’s milk in a supermarket chiller.

“It’s interesting to me when I look at what’s happened in the last sort of six months – as the dairy price has gone up, the desire for change has gone down. . . 

Powering up Predator Free 2050:

National will boost Predator Free 2050 with $69.2 million of new funding over the next four years to ramp up the ambitious, world-leading pest eradication programme, Conservation Spokeswoman Maggie Barry says.

“We have been absolutely thrilled with the enthusiasm of communities up and down the country about Predator Free since it was launched one year ago,” Ms Barry says.

“National in Government will match the commitment of our volunteers, councils and philanthropists and turn this project into something that will achieve what Sir Paul Callaghan called “New Zealand’s moonshot”.” . . 

Smith welcomes sanctuary pest control work:

Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith is hailing today’s pest control operation in the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary as a win for the survival of New Zealand’s native birds.

“The Brook Waimarama Sanctuary Trust has fought long and hard for today’s pest control operation. It has had to go to court three times as a result of action by the Brook Valley Community Trust to try to stop it, and three times the court has backed the Sanctuary Trust,” Dr Smith says.

“The science is clear that the only way birds like kiwi, kokako, kea and kaka will survive is to effectively control the pests that have decimated their populations. I can appreciate people’s angst at killing rats, stoats and possums but every year these pests brutally kill 25 million native birds. . . 

This tiny country feeds the world – Frank Viviano:

In a potato field near the Netherlands’ border with Belgium, Dutch farmer Jacob van den Borne is seated in the cabin of an immense harvester before an instrument panel worthy of the starship Enterprise.

From his perch 10 feet above the ground, he’s monitoring two drones—a driverless tractor roaming the fields and a quadcopter in the air—that provide detailed readings on soil chemistry, water content, nutrients, and growth, measuring the progress of every plant down to the individual potato. Van den Borne’s production numbers testify to the power of this “precision farming,” as it’s known. The global average yield of potatoes per acre is about nine tons. Van den Borne’s fields reliably produce more than 20.

That copious output is made all the more remarkable by the other side of the balance sheet: inputs. Almost two decades ago, the Dutch made a national commitment to sustainable agriculture under the rallying cry “Twice as much food using half as many resources.”  . .

#LoveLambWeek: Sheep farmers call on consumers to put lamb back on plates –

The next generation of sheep farmers has called on the next generation of shoppers to put lamb back on plates across Britain through Love Lamb Week.

Over the past 15 years, fewer people have been regularly eating the very British meat, and with those aged 55 years and over making up the lion’s share of the market, time is ticking for lamb.

This year the annual campaign runs from 1-7 September, and social media users are being urged to tweet the hashtag #LoveLambWeek . . .

 

First day of @LoveLambWeek .Whilst we are all about beef here @ LIB towers, look what we found out the back😀 #lovelambweek pic.twitter.com/SDqgD3ntil

— Ladies in Beef (@Ladiesinbeef1) September 1, 2017

Rural round-up

Why we need irrigation and water storage – Nathan Guy:

Water is one of New Zealand’s greatest natural and renewable assets. Many New Zealanders probably don’t fully appreciate how it powers our economy through the primary sector, giving us a standard of living many other countries can only envy.

For farmers and growers the importance of water is obvious, especially in the many areas that have suffered through droughts in recent years. You only need to look at Hawke’s Bay where the tap is close to being turned off for new resource consent applications for commercial use.

The impact of climate change is likely to make dry spells even more frequent in the future. This is why irrigation and water storage is so important, and why as a Government we are proud to be a strong supporter and investor. So far we have allocated nearly $280 million towards these schemes around the country. . . 

Feds disappointed but not surprised by M.bovis finds:

Federated Farmers is disappointed, but not surprised, to learn of three new finds of stock with Mycoplasma bovis.

The affected properties confirmed by the Ministry for Primary Industries today are all linked to Van Leeuwen Group farms where the cattle disease was first identified last month.

“This latest identification is obviously disappointing but it was anticipated as the animals were traced back to the origin of the initial outbreak,” says Federated Farmers biosecurity spokesperson Guy Wigley. . . 

Farmers, schools and hapu join forces to save Kaipara Harbour – Lois Williams:

The project is part of a larger campaign to stop silt build-up on the seabed, and reverse the damage caused over the years by deforestation and the failure until recently to fence off cattle from waterways.

The Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group, made up of councils, landowners, Crown agencies such as NIWA and iwi, has been working for a decade to protect the harbour, which drains half of Northland.

Its chairman, Willie Wright of Te Uri o Hau, said two million trees had been planted in the massive catchment, stretching from Hokianga to Whangarei down to the Waitakere Ranges. . . 

Even Labour doesn’t know it’s tax policy – Rodney Hide:

Starter for 10 – What’s Labour’s tax policy?

Don’t know? Don’t feel bad – neither does Labour. Or it is just not telling.

It has said it will tax water. But Labour isn’t calling it a tax – it’s calling it a “royalty”.

The royalty will apply to commercial consumption, the rate will be “proportionate and fair” and will be set after consultation post-election.

We don’t know what the price of a cabbage, or anything else, will be because we don’t know the rate and exactly what the royalty is to apply to.

What is and isn’t “commercial consumption” also isn’t clear. . .

Ingham’s NZ plant recognised for outstanding water management:

Inghams Group Limited  Australia and New Zealand’s leading integrated poultry producer, has been recognised for its outstanding water management by a global leader in sustainable water use.

Ingham’s Te Aroha primary processing plant is the first New Zealand site to achieve certification from the international Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) and only the seventh site in the world to be certified. . . 

Plant milk a ‘threat’ to IQ of unborn children – Sarah-Kate Templeton:

The fashion for alternatives to cow’s milk, such as soya, almond and coconut drinks, is putting women at risk of giving birth to children with low IQs, a professor will warn at a conference next month.

Researchers at Surrey University have found that plant-based milks, which also include oat, rice and hazelnut drinks, have about only 3% of the concentrations of iodine that are in cow’s milk. . .

We'll be supporting #LoveLamb week, starting 1st September! Give @LoveLambWeek a follow to keep up to date with everything! #BritishAgri pic.twitter.com/99ZSJw49O5

— British Beef & Lamb (@BritishBeefLamb) August 29, 2017