Reforming role for Federated Farmers
Reforming role for Federated Farmers
Federated Farmers has been asked to help drive changes in the structure of the meat industry in the absence of anyone else able to do the job.
Neal Wallace
Fees for training agreed
Fees for training agreed
A new funding regime for the training of shearers and woolhandlers has been agreed to which could cost growers as little as one cent a sheep.
PM puts ETS case to farmers
PM puts ETS case to farmers
Prime Minister John Key made the ultimate climate change sales pitch to what should have been a hostile audience of farmers in Invercargill yesterday.
Switch in monetary attitudes
Switch in monetary attitudes
The Labour Party will soon introduce a Bill to Parliament requiring the Reserve Bank to take into account other financial factors when considering monetary policy.
No Fonterra plan B if vote negative
No Fonterra plan B if vote negative
There is no Plan B should Fonterra shareholders next Wednesday reject the third and final stage of the co-operative's capital restruct-uring package, to allow farmers to trade shares among themselves.
Concerns over release of public walking access maps
Concerns over release of public walking access maps
Farmers and Local Government New Zealand have issues with the way the Walking Access Commission publicly releases maps identifying public walking routes, saying the process was fraught with potential problems.
Liability for pest control
Liability for pest control
Government agencies will be required to control pests such as wilding pines and rabbits on their land, the Government announced yesterday.
Merino clip winners named
Merino clip winners named
Maniototo merino breeders Allan and Eris Paterson have won the NZWTA Otago Merino Clip of the Year award, announced in Queenstown on Friday night.
Farmers seek harder line on rabbits
Farmers seek harder line on rabbits
Farmers may ask the Government to reclassify rabbits as a pest of national importance, with estimates the soaring population could result in a loss of production worth $27 million in five years.
$4.5 million invested in robotics-run dairy barn
$4.5 million invested in robotics-run dairy barn
Housing 500 dairy cows in a barn may not fit the image of a typical New Zealand dairy farm, but it is hard to question the method when you see relaxed and contented cows quietly chewing their cud.
'Sound' prices for bulls
'Sound' prices for bulls
Prices at southern autumn bull sales were described by agents as sound without being spectacular.
Cows healthier, with little lameness
Cows healthier, with little lameness
Improved health has been the biggest gain from housing cows.
Soil ecologist to speak in Cromwell
Soil ecologist to speak in Cromwell
An expert Australian soil ecologist will be the guest speaker at a two-day farming soils seminar in Cromwell next week.
Shelves filling at new Bunnings
Shelves filling at new Bunnings
Stocking of shelves at the new Bunnings Warehouse store in Dunedin is well under way, in preparation for its opening early next month.
Benefit for NZ farmers in lamb decline
Benefit for NZ farmers in lamb decline
New Zealand sheep farmers should cash in on the continued global decline in lamb numbers, but the wider industry is not immune from its effects.
Increase in port charges suggested
Increase in port charges suggested
South Port reported to the New Zealand Stock Exchange yesterday that an arbiter has made an interim decision suggesting an increase in annual charges, and that decision will form the basis of further discussion with New Zealand Aluminium Smelters.
Wine industry's efforts bear fruit
Wine industry's efforts bear fruit
Moves by the wine industry to rebalance supply and demand appear to have been successful, with the 2010 grape harvest 7% lower than 2009 nationally despite a vineyard area 2000ha larger.
China trip spurs SFF rethink
China trip spurs SFF rethink
The potential of China as a developing red-meat market appears set to satisfy lofty expectations, but the future lies in supplying high-value cuts rather than commodities, as is the case now, an industry executive says.
Rural tensions increasing over ETS
Rural tensions increasing over ETS
Cracks began to appear in the Government's traditional rural support base over the introduction of the emissions trading scheme (ETS) as farmers took to the streets in Balclutha yesterday and a National Party branch chairman threatened to resign.
Crunch inevitable for meat industry
Crunch inevitable for meat industry
The meat industry is heading for a train crash but it will be market forces which dictate when and where that accident happens.