MPI job cuts 'won't disrupt organisational structure'
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.
MPI celebrates 20 years since the birth of its biosecurity detector dog programme with a giant cake at the Christchurch A&P Show today.
The birthday event took place 10am at the MPI stand. Ministers Nathan Guy, Jo Goodhew and Steven Joyce attended, along with two biosecurity detector dogs.
MPI purchased the first beagles in 1995. Two of them started at Auckland airport soon after.
"Detector dogs have proven themselves as a very effective biosecurity tool for keeping New Zealand free of pests and diseases potentially carried by arriving international passengers and mail," says MPI border clearance director Steve Gilbert.
"They can pick up seeds and plants that can be hard to detect by x-ray. They also screen people faster than x-ray, and their visual presence sends a message to arriving passengers about how seriously New Zealand takes biosecurity."
He says 2015 is a big year for the MPI detector dog programme.
"We're gearing up with extra detector dog power for a busy summer – both in terms of passenger numbers and the heightened risk of fruit fly, due to outbreaks in Australia and other parts of the Pacific.
"We will have 24 new dog teams graduate from their training in December. This will be the largest number of dog teams to graduate at any one time in the history of MPI or its predecessors.
"The new detector dog capacity will allow us to screen all international flights arriving in New Zealand. So we've come a long way since our humble beginnings in Auckland 20 years ago."
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.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
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