A rollercoaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Farms are expected to benefit from experimental work by the Department of Conservation and Fonterra as they jointly trial floating wetlands in Waikato.
Developed by Massey University, the wetlands consist of native wetland plants in buoyant ‘rafts’ that sit on the water surface. These are capable of removing large amounts of nutrients: the rafts filter water in drains and runoff before it enters waterways.
This ‘Living Water’ project has located floating wetlands in drains around Lake Areare (near Ngaruawahia) to monitor the technology. The drains are “nutrient enriched”, the trial partners say.
DOC ranger Michael Paviour, leading the work in Waikato, says good early results are seen in the trial.
“The wetlands have only been installed for a short time, but initial tests and rapid plant growth show they’re doing a good job of removing nutrients from the water.
“The floating wetlands are not a ‘silver bullet’ for raising water quality but, used with silt traps and riparian planting, they are practical and effective.”
Living Water leader Tim Brandenburg says the floating wetlands could help farmers manage nutrient levels in ponds and drains.
“Floating wetlands don’t just remove nutrients from waterways, they also attract birds and insects and the grasses can be harvested as a feed supplement.”
The trial will run until mid 2017 and if the good results continue the floating wetlands could be in waterways nationwide.
China’s Ambassador Wang Xiaolong says bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and New Zealand has made significant and rapid progress.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.