Crazy
OPINION: Your canine crusader was truly impressed by the almost unanimous support given by politicians of all stripes in Parliament to the recent passing of legislation for the NZ/EU free trade deal.
Agriculture and Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says farmers have spoken up about the slowness of the response to the disease Mycoplasma bovis.
O’Connor says he visited affected farmers at Winton earlier this month; he had visited affected South Canterbury properties before Christmas.
“Farmers have shared their concerns about the [slowness] of the response, started under the National Government in July, and how we can contain the spread of the disease,” O’Connor says.
“I have great sympathy for farmers caught in the outbreak, who face tough decisions to protect their livelihoods.
“There is a willingness out there to do whatever it takes to eradicate M. bovis. This remains our focus.’’
He reiterated that M. bovis is not a food safety risk; it affects animal welfare and production.
Last week he also announced a new testing and tracing regime with the aim of providing a clearer indication of the spread of M. bovis and potential action for eradication by the end of February.
Ministry for Primary Industries officials met last week to confirm three lines of work:
- a national M. bovis milk surveillance programme: MPI will test three samples of milk from every dairy farm starting on February 1. Results are expected in February and March.
- tracing animals moved from properties under Restricted Place notices: investigators have followed up almost 1000 contacts for possible links to infected properties; 39 are under Restricted Place notices as testing continues and 17 properties are confirmed infected. Tracing and confirming animal movements from the infected properties takes several days for each property and involves using records from NAIT, Animal Status Declarations, trucking dockets and interviews with farmers.
- genome sequencing: the tool used to work out whether the strain of M. bovis is the same on all infected farms. It takes several months as it involves growing the bacterium from samples.
Rural trader PGG Wrightson has revised its operating earnings guidance, saying trading conditions have deteriorated since the last market update in February.
It's been a bumper season for maize and other supplements in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
Leading farmers from around New Zealand connected to share environmental stories and inspiration and build relationships at the Dairy Environment Leaders (DEL) national forum in Wellington last month.
AgriZeroNZ, a joint venture fast-tracking emissions reduction tools for farmers, is pouring $5 million in a biotech company to develop a low emissions farm pasture with increased productivity gains.
Fonterra is teaming up with wealth app provider Sharesies to make it easier for its farmer shareholders to trade co-op shares among themselves.
Te Awamutu dairy farmers Doug, Penny, Josh and Bayley Storey have planted more than 25,000 native trees on the family farm, adding to a generations-old native forest.
OPINION: Talking about plant-based food: “Chicken-free chicken” start-up Sunfed has had its valuation slashed to zero by major investor Blackbird…
OPINION: Synlait's financial woes won’t be going away anytime soon.