Massey University to upskill teachers amid rising ag subject demand
There's been unprecedented demand from secondary school students across the country to study agricultural related subjects.
The development of goat milk infant formula has received a $30 million funding boost.
Caprine Innovations NZ (CAPRINZ) is a five-year, $30 million PGP programme joint effort by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Dairy Goat Cooperative (NZ) Ltd.
Among other things, it is aimed at lifting export revenue in the NZ dairy goat milk industry to $400 million annually by 2023. It also seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of families and grow research and farming capability.
Dairy Goat Cooperative chief executive David Hemara says CAPRINZ aims to strengthen the position of goat’s milk infant formula as the preferred alternative to cow milk infant formula.
“We recognise breastfeeding as the best source of nutrition for babies and infants. Our aim through this PGP programme with MPI is to target consumers in NZ and overseas by meeting demand where breast feeding requires supplementation or isn’t feasible.”
The CAPRINZ PGP programme is to enable all NZ goat farmers to measure and improve their performance, and to ensure that economic gains don’t come at the expense of the rural environment.
“Because many dairy goat farms use off-paddock animal housing there’s the opportunity to decrease the environmental impact of pastoral farming by conversions from other farming systems,” says Hemara. “Our programme aims to increase dairy goat numbers in the long term by 50% to over 100,000.”
MPI director-general Martyn Dunne says they expect industry-wide benefits.
“In addition to economic benefits, the CAPRINZ PGP programme also aims to create more than 400 new jobs onfarm, improve dairy goat farming practice and sustainable production, and boost capability across the industry.
“It will also grow NZ’s research capability in the science of high-value nutrition and health, and establish a dairy goat research farm to deliver and trial its innovations.”
Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor launched the programme in Hamilton.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
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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).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.