Dry weather classification expands to North Island
The dry weather in some parts of the North Island has received medium-scale adverse event classification from the Government.
Industry body DairyNZ is strongly supporting the Government's move towards comprehensive environment reporting, saying that credible and consistent information is essential for the country.
"We support the Government's move to introduce an Environmental Reporting Bill that mandates the provision of comprehensive environmental information for New Zealanders," says DairyNZ's strategy and investment leader for sustainability, Dr Rick Pridmore.
"This will give us the potential for greater consistency in environmental monitoring across New Zealand. For too long, inconsistency has prevented us from getting a shared understanding on the state of our environment.
"As councils work with communities on setting limits for freshwater quality and quantity around the country to meet the requirements of the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management, we are going to need credible environmental information. It will be essential for us to understand where we are already doing well, and where we need to focus our efforts.
"Science has significant potential to improve the efficiency of decision-making processes. By starting from a clear, science-based definition of the problem we need to solve, we can all put more energy into working together to develop solutions."
DairyNZ submitted in support of the changes under the 2012 Resource Management Reform Bill that will enable the regulation of environmental reporting.
"We have supported the involvement of the Government Statistician and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment in this robust reporting regime. Having this level of independent oversight will strengthen the reliability and accessibility of the data, as well as allaying any fears of political interference," he says.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.
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