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DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle says only farmers will be able to attend.
A much revised farmer consultation roadshow on how to deal with climate change begins this week amid serious misgivings about it taking place while a highly transmissable Covid variant is taking hold in NZ.
Feedback is being sought on two emissions pricing options developed by the world-first Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership, He Waka Eke Noa, which includes DairyNZ, Beef+Lamb NZ (B+LNZ) and Federated Farmers. The partnership was created to come up with a better solution after the Government legislated to put agriculture emissions into the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
DairyNZ and B+LNZ are running the roadshow, which was dure to kick off two weeks ago, but was delayed while changes to the programme were made to align it with the rules of the Government's 'red traffic light' setting. These included fewer actual face-to-face meetings, more online options and restricting numbers at each of the 27 meetings to a maximum of 100 people. The first meetings will be in Waikato and Southland on February 8.
As part of requirements to limit numbers to 100, those farmers who registered for the original event are being asked to re-register. DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle says this is because some of the dates and places have now changed. He says only farmers will be able to attend and separate arrangements are being made for rural professionals who earlier indicated a desire to attend the meetings.
Mackle says DairyNZ and B+LNZ have reduced the number of their teams involved in the roadshow and are doing their best to use directors and managers in local areas where possible, rather than flying people around the country. Mackle says getting quality feedback from farmers on He Waka Eke Noa is a big deal for the industry and it's important that farmers get the opportunity to ask the hard questions about the proposal. He says with Omicron around, the feedback he is getting is that many farmers will not come and may opt for online options.
"But the reality is that we won't know how many people will be coming along until we see the registrations," he says.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.
DairyNZ deputy chair Cameron Henderson has been re-appointed unopposed for another term.
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Farms across the upper North Island are trialling different pasture mixes as part of a research programme that aims to build greater resilience into farming systems.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) and Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed new training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices are struggling to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Synlait has swung to second-half profit as operations stabilise, but the dairy processor still posted a $75.4m annual loss.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
