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Family farm wins Auckland award

Winners of this year’s Auckland Ballance Environment Farm Award , Clare, Steve, Felicity and Bruce Dill.

The Dill family of Kaipara Flats, north of Auckland, has won the 2018 Auckland Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Selecting genetics will improve beef herds

National beef genetics manager for Beef and Lamb Genetics New Zealand Max Tweedie says bulls with strong growth rates are also producing good marbling results.

The first meat quality results from the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Genetics (BLNZ Genetics) beef progeny test are showing that farmers can select genetics to markedly improve their beef herds, and better marbling than expected in some breeds.

We are growing houses instead of food — Feds

We are losing our most productive land to houses - that’s the most significant point Federated Farmers takes from the ‘Our Land 2018’ report released today.

Let’s protect our soil — HortNZ

The need to protect our best soils for growing healthy fresh fruit and vegetables is clear in the Our Land 2018 report released today, says Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Mike Chapman.

More than just dropping numbers

NZAGRC deputy director Dr Andy Reisinger.

The number of animals we have in New Zealand and how we use our land is part of our greenhouse gas emissions profile and must be part of any policy discussions, explains Andy Reisinger.

Producing less that is worth more

New Zealand agriculture is facing interesting times and we need to be ambitious if we’re to win. The model that has enabled us to succeed for 100 years cannot ensure our success in the future.

Waste of money

Your old mate is so excited (not!) to hear yet another committee has been formed to go with the 40 already set up by the government since it came to power last October – Damian O’Connor’s much vaunted Primary Industry Council.

No sh%t, Sherlock

A mate of yours truly says he was flabbergasted by the incoherent response of the body overseeing NAIT, following the recent review of the animal tracing system and the blistering criticism of it by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.

Out-muscled

The Hound couldn’t help but notice the outlandish public crowing and back-slapping by eco-terrorism – sorry, environmental – groups Greenpeace and Forest and Bird over the coalition government’s recent decision to can all future funding of irrigation schemes.

Young farmers?

Your old mate notes that Young Farmers has made great fanfare of a recent board appointment: Hawke’s Bay farmer and agribusiness leader Sam Robinson is joining the organisation as a director.