Cuddling cows
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its cows and instead charge visitors to cuddle them.
OPINION: Last week marked the closure of one government funded entity that people had hardly heard of.
The Productivity Commission, which gets $6m in state funding annually, was given its marching orders by the new Government. In total 22 staff, including four commissioners, are out of work. Milking It reckons it’s unlikely anyone else will notice the difference when it closes.
Thirteen years ago, ACT helped give birth to the Commission. Now David Seymour says it’s time to “stop giving around $6 million a year to the Productivity Commission to produce more reports”.
That money would instead be used to set up a Ministry of Regulation to be headed by Seymour. Hopefully, taxpayers will see some real changes now.
Profitability issues facing arable farmers are the same across the world, says New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr.
Over 85% of Fonterra farmer suppliers will be eligible for customer funding up to $1,500 for solutions designed to drive on-farm efficiency gains and reduce emissions intensity.
Tighter beef and lamb production globally have worked to the advantage of NZ, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
Groundswell is ramping up its 'Quit Paris' campaign with signs going up all over the country.
Some farmers in the Nelson region are facing up to five years of hard work to repair their damaged properties caused by the recent devastating floods.
Federated Farmers is joining major industry-good bodies in not advocating for the Government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.