Point of View: The Japan Wine Challenge, A New Zealand Judge's Perspective
Having judged at the Japan Wine Challenge in both 2024 and 2025, I’m looking forward to returning to the role in Tokyo this October.
Apparently, it could solve the age-old problem of fly attacks on livestock, and bring economic and environmental benefits.
Biting flies are serious pests, causing economic losses in animal production. But a new study by Japanese researchers and published in PLOS One found that black cows painted with zebra stripes are nearly 50% less likely to suffer from the bites.
Researchers used six Japanese Black cows with different paint designs in the study.
The treatments were black-and-white painted stripes, black painted stripes, and no stripes (all-black body surface).
The numbers of biting flies on the cows painted with black-and-white stripes were significantly lower than those on non-painted cows and cows painted only with black stripes.
