Effluent expo canned
The Effluent & Environment Expo, scheduled for early November in Hamilton, has been cancelled.
Held last week at the Mystery Creek Event Centre, the annual Effluent and Environment Expo has firmly cemented itself on the calendar.
Having ‘grown up’ a little since its days at Claudelands, Hamilton, the event, now run by Amanda Hodgson, has a broader emphasis.
It not only exhibits effluent management products but also has sites giving advice and more content about the environment.
The free Expo has sponsors including Fonterra FarmSource, Rabobank, Dairy NZ, Waikato Regional Council and Mystery Creek.
Education and discussion are important, with a wide range of speakers: Sir Graham Henry discussed performance, attitude and team wellbeing; Jacqueline Rowarth looked at soil biology; and Penny Clark-Hall discussing social licence and the benefits of building trust with stakeholders.
Industry advisors speaking on farm water use, good management and adequate effluent storage give a good idea of the topical content.
The exhibition hall had about 80 sites showing existing and new technology, particularly for monitoring and automation, all helping farmers and landowners to understand and meet the arduous requirements of the clean water accords and ETS schemes.
Amanda Hodgson summed up the event, saying “We believe we’ve had a similar number of farmers through the gates as last year”.
“We’d love to see more but, interestingly, the locals were a bit thin on the ground. But we had people from the South Island, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty and Northland so it’s quality over quantity.”
Exhibitors told Dairy News that the start of each day was a little slow and the day was over by about 2pm: dairy farmers tied to the milking shed?
The event will grow, given the range of information on the one site and under one roof. Perhaps the uncertainty about standards is confusing farmers hearing different messages from different regions.
A 50% tariff slapped by the US on goods from India last month has opened an opportunity for New Zealand wool carpets exports to North America.
There's been unprecedented demand from secondary school students across the country to study agricultural related subjects.
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…
OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…