Rowarth appointed DairyNZ deputy chair
DairyNZ has appointed Jacqueline Rowarth as its first deputy board chair.
Dairy farm owners are paying a lot more attention to what's happening on their farms – especially pasture – because of the low payout.
DairyNZ's general manager for extension, Andrew Reid, says farmers are appraising their pastures much more closely and in many instances are using technology to do this.
— And they are making sure their workers are following DairyNZ's 'pasture first' principles to maximise profitability.
"People now talk less about using supplements," Reid says.
"Farmers are conscious of how much pasture they are growing and are maximising the use of that pasture rather than buying in costly supplements. Many are using supplements as a supplements and not as a standard farming system," he told Dairy News.
DairyNZ staff are noticing that farmers are more focused than ever on pasture production. With good pasture growth in most regions, cow condition is good.
"Overall farmers are focused on next season rather than trying to extend the present season. A lot of farms are on once-a-day milking or at varying stages of drying off for the primary reason of going into winter with favourable pasture covers and cow condition. So the focus this May is on next season, not this season."
According to Reid, overall dairy farms around the country are in good shape.
A new report has revealed the full impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on Hawke’s Bay’s principals and teachers.
The Commerce Commission says connectivity options for rural New Zealanders are front-of-mind as it begins a formal investigation into the future of the copper network.
Grand Finalists have been selected, all regional finals have concluded, and the journey towards the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final is underway.
Hopes of NZ sheepmeat prices picking up anytime soon in the country's key export market of China looks highly unlikely.
Regional councils are welcoming the certainty for councils in today’s Resource Management Act (RMA) announcement by the Government.