Why banning RSE workers here won’t improve wages for local agricultural workers – Eric Crampton:
They thought banning migrant farm labour would boost wages for native-born farm workers. They were wrong. And New Zealand may be getting ready to repeat their mistake.
On December 31, 1964, the United States ended the bracero agreements between the US and Mexico, after two years of tightened restrictions. The agreements, which began in 1942, regulated the movement of lower-skilled migrant labour – particularly for seasonal agricultural work. By the early 1960s, about half a million Mexican farm workers migrated to American farms for seasonal agricultural work on contracts lasting from six weeks to six months.
The Kennedy administration believed that the bracero agreements reduced American farm labour wages. It also did not help that the senior commissioner in the Department of Labour investigation of the bracero programme was a eugenicist who believed Mexicans were genetically inferior. . .
How $2 a punnet of strawberries is bad for kiwi growers –
A punnet of strawberries for $2 at the supermarket may be a bargain for consumers, but it’s “particularly painful” for Kiwi growers, Michael Ahern says.
“Growers are not happy at all, in fact some of them are opening up their gardens to pick-your-own early to find some way to gain recovery by keeping costs down,” Ahern, who is executive manager for Strawberry Growers New Zealand, told The Country’s Jamie Mackay.
“That’s not the way they want to do it – but they’re professional growers and they want normal, orthodox channels to market on a weekly basis.”
“They’re big boys and girls and they can suck it up to a certain extent – but this one is particularly painful.” . .
Agility key to Alliance success board chair says – Louise Steyl:
Agility is Alliance Group’s biggest strength as it battles trade issues around the world, board chairman Murray Taggart says.
Apart from the obvious impacts of Covid-19, issues like Great Britain exiting the European Union posed potential export risks, he said.
“Trade relationships always wax and wane.”
But the Chinese market remained the meat processing co-operative’s most important market. . .
A gut feeling backed by science – Mary-Jo Tohill:
Sheep breeding has become a science, and with technology and stock management, these three elements have combined in the sheep breeder of today.
For South Otago farmer Garth Shaw, it began with the Coopworth, the result of crossing the Romney and Border Leicester, developed at Lincoln College as a dual-purpose breed in 1950.
The Shaws began farming at Wharetoa, which means strong house in Maori, near Clydevale in 1966. They started breeding Coopworth rams in 1975.
“We have always run a commercial flock alongside our stud flock and have used the commercial flock to benchmark as new breeds and markets become available and also to test our genetic progress within a commercial setting,” Mr Shaw said. . .
Shift from town to country rewarding:
Nicky Tily works with up to 4000 pigs — and loves every minute of it.
Ms Tily (23), who grew up in urban Christchurch and worked in the food service sector, is now a junior stockperson.
“Pigs are so intelligent. I enjoy everything about the job.”
She had always liked the idea of working with animals or on a farm and considered a career in vet nursing. However, having completed a six-month course, gaining a National Certificate in Animal Husbandry, she decided against vet nursing.
Her first job in the farming sector was with Mapua stud at Southbridge, which included a sheep stud, dairy grazing, cropping and a 120 sow outdoor piggery. She enjoyed all of the work, but particularly working with the pigs. . .
Picking a poinsettia – Heather Barnes:
Poinsettias may traditionally be red, but as I learned on a recent visit to Homewood Nursery and Garden Center, these holiday decorating staples come in many colors.
Unlike many flowering shrubs (yes, poinsettia is a shrub), their color doesn’t come from the flowers. The colorful part is a bract, or modified leaf.
I have a cat who loves to eat plants, so I’ve never bought poinsettias because I thought they were poisonous. I thought wrong. The American Veterianary Medical Assocaition says they can cause a skin irriation but rates them a lower risk than other holiday plants. While people shouldn’t eat them either, Poison Control says the plant “can be irritating but it is not fatal if eaten.” The sap can cause a skin rash on people wo are allergic to latex, since both have some of the same proteins. . .
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