Green but not much grass!
Dairy farmers in the lower North Island are working on protecting next season, according to Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre, who farms just north of the Horowhenua township of Levin.
Federated Farmers National Conference hits Auckland from Wednesday with a packed programme covering the A to Z of New Zealand pastoral agriculture.
"Federated Farmers is excited to return to New Zealand's largest city," says Federated Farmers Bruce Wills, who has himself, just returned from the World Farmers Organisation General Assembly in Rome.
"The conference will give me a chance to share my experience meeting global agricultural leaders. Our chief executive, Conor English, will no doubt share what he picked up for New Zealand farming from the Rio+20 Earth Summit.
"We have an emphasis in our conference agenda of unlocking potential from dairy, meat and wool.
"Our dairy members will hear from a global expert on cooperatives and this is timely, considering Fonterra's Trading Among Farmers vote will conclude today (Monday, 25 June).
"Naturally, animal welfare and farm environmental management are major items being covered as well.
"In a radical development for 2012, we are holding three interactive couch sessions which will energise both audience and panellists. The topics being covered in these sessions are local government, the environment and foreign ownership. These will be moderated by Country99TV's Genevieve Westcott.
"It would not be a Federated Farmers conference without politicians, so we will be getting briefings from the Minister of Finance, Bill English, and our industry's minister, David Carter, Minister for Primary Industries.
"We are also looking forward to hearing from Opposition Leader, David Shearer, who of course enjoys a pretty good surname from a farmer's point of view.
"One of our highlights takes place on Thursday, 28 June, with the Vodafone National Awards dinner. Kicking off with the Beef+Lamb NZ cocktails, we will be announcing 2012's Allflex Agribusiness Person of the Year and the Ravensdown Agri Personality for 2012.
"Central to this great evening is the Vodafone Creme of the Crop Awards, where we assemble almost all of agriculture's major award winners for the past 12-months. It is a huge undertaking but central to us celebrating agriculture's continued success," Wills says.
Farmer-led charity, Meat the Need is calling for donations to enable it to supply more meals to families in need.
Weaker pricing and demand from China continue to impact New Zealand red meat export earnings.
Fonterra has cemented its position as the country’s number one cheesemaker by picking up nine NZ Champion of Cheese trophies this year.
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
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