McIvor moving to OSPRI
Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive for the past eight years, Sam McIvor is heading for new pastures at Ospri, which runs NZ’s integrated animal disease management and traceability service.
Farmer demand for help on health and safety has tested Beef + Lamb NZ's capacity to deliver.
BLNZ general manager farm, Richard Wakelin, says the industry good body originally planned to run 32 seminars by the end of June, but the demand is prompting it to run at least double this number.
Wakelin told Rural News that H&S has dominated the farming landscape in the past six months, resulting in a massive demand on BLNZ extension managers for advice.
"These seminars have been really well received by farmers because they have helped break down some of the myths about what they need to do to manage their health and safety obligations onfarm," he says.
"I think the focus for farmers has been on meeting regulations -- be they health and safety or environment."
Wakelin says from what he's seen, farmers have never taken a 'she'll be right' approach to H&S.
"They are finding out what they need to do differently as opposed to what they normally did, and building confidence about what they have to do onfarm," he explains.
"Take field days: these are now run under a tight health and safety programme, but they are just as enjoyable."
Wakelin says farmer attendance at the BLNZ H&S seminars has been excellent.
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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