Domestic Focus
OPINION: After hogging the media limelight for telling a NZ Chinese MP to "go back home", Winston Peters has decided to focus on a domestic issue - oil and gas drilling.
Cows on farms could soon have their health, reproductive readiness and location monitored by smart technology powered by the kinetic energy of the animal’s movements.
Researchers from China, writing in the journal iScience, have designed a wearable smart device for cows that captures the kinetic energy created by their smallest movements. The technology is housed in a scallop-shaped shell, which is attached to a cow’s ankle or neck.
An electromagnetic generator converts kinetic energy into electrical energy, which is storied in a lithium battery that powers the wireless monitors.
Information can then be gathered, including the amount of exercise the animal gets, reproductive cycles, disease, oxygen concentration, air temperature, humidity and milk production, helping ensure good health and improving breeding productivity.
OPINION: As the general election approaches, political parties are churning out policies in the hope of attracting more votes.
An LIC bull, Tronnoco AR Sadio-ET S3F, bred by Tony and Keri O'Connor of Tronnoco Farming Co Ltd near Timaru, has won the 2026 Mahoe Trophy.
With forecasters advising El Niño conditions will develop through winter and strengthen into spring and summer, Ballance Agri-Nutrients is encouraging farmers and growers to think ahead about nutrient planning and be prepared to work around challenging weather conditions.
In the past, much has been made of the concept of farm to fork, but an Australian expert in food science and marketing with experience in the dairy industry, Dr Angeline Achariya, says the reverse of this slogan is critical to win modern day consumers.
Efficiency is the big one because it tracks back into what is done on farm.
A four year trial has reaffirmed that mixing plantain into dairy pastures can help reduce nitrogen losses to freshwater while maintaining milk production and profitability, say researchers.