LIC semen probe results to be made public
The result of two probes into the supply of bad sire semen to over 1100 LIC farmer customers will be made public next month.
Two Bay of Plenty farmers have been slapped with fines totalling $28,000 for effluent management breach.
Farm owner Francis Nettleingham, and his son John Nettleingham, the farm manager, pleaded guilty at the District Court of Tauranga last week to discharging dairy shed effluent to land where it entered a tributary of the Aongatete estuary.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council prosecuted the two men for the effluent discharge of dairy shed effluent that occurred on at their Aongatete farm on 13 October 2021. The farm operates as a small calf-rearing enterprise, milking about thirty cows to feed the calves. Both men were fined $14,000 each.
Judge David Kirkpatrick says in his ruling that a relatively simple system for diverting stormwater and cowshed effluent to appropriate destinations was not operated properly.
“There does not appear to have been any fault or problem with the elements of the system, only with the way in which the defendants used it.”
BoP Council compliance manager, Alex Miller, notes that the Aongatete estuary has high cultural and ecological values.
“Everybody has duties and responsibilities to manage their dairy shed effluent to avoid unwanted pollution entering the environment.
“Regardless of the scale of the farm and the dairy operation, farmers need to put the design, operation, maintenance and inspection of their effluent management systems at the forefront of their work,” Miller says
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.
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