Bikinis in cowshed
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.
Dairy farmers are set to benefit from a $17 million beef genetics programme backed by the red meat sector and the Government.
Beef+Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is providing $10m towards the seven-year project Informing New Zealand Beef, the Ministry for Primary Industries will provide the balance.
The project is expected to result in more efficient cows within the next 25 years. The programme is targeting a 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of product produced.
Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor says the programme will lower the beef sector's greenhouse gas emissions by delivering cows with a smaller environmental hoof-print.
"The cows most suited to New Zealand's production systems will be moderate in size, but still highly productive. Moderate sized cows which require less feed will help to lower the impact on soils and produce less methane," says O'Connor.
"To date we've relied on an Australian beef genetics framework, but the time is right to create our own programme tailored to New Zealand conditions."
B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor says the programme capitalises on New Zealand's world-leading skills and knowledge in sheep genetics and applies them to the beef industry.
"The data tells us that our beef industry has been lagging behind on genetic progress," he says.
"Not only will this give the industry better genetic tools, but a major focus of the programme is to work with commercial farmers to increase understanding and grow confidence in using genetic information to drive productivity and profitability."
McIvor says dairy farmers also stand to benefit significantly.
"With these new production-focused genetic selection tools, dairy farmers will be able to select semen from beef bulls for artificial insemination in their herds, more confident that they will have shorter gestation, easy calving and produce more valuable calves."
An independent report, prepared for Alliance farmer shareholders is backing the proposed $250 million joint venture investment by Irish company Dawn Meats Group.
Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
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