increase font size
MPI has already amended the Animal Welfare Act and now the National Animal Welfare Advisory Council is working through regulations that come out of that and details on minimum standards.
Deciding which proposed animal welfare standards will become regulation and which will become 'guidance' is a priority concern for DairyNZ.
This is the message from Carol Barnao, general manager policy and advocacy.
MPI has already amended the Animal Welfare Act and now the National Animal Welfare Advisory Council is working through regulations that come out of that and details on minimum standards.
"The question is what needs to be in regulation and what can be in guidance," says Barnao.
"So the issue for us and dairy farmers is... what is the difference between the old system and what they are proposing right now?"
The "devil is in the detail", she says. They are looking at how practical the regulations are and testing proposals with farmers, and will go back to MPI with their views by the May 19 deadline.
Barnao believes the changes to the act, and now the regulations that come out of that, is a modernising strategy by the Government.
NZPork chairman Ian Carter says in general they support the proposals by MPI and respect requirements for farrowing and crate sizes. Farmers need to adapt to the size of their pigs. "That is well documented in the industry and we respect that."
NZPork is concerned about a proposal to bring back 'manipulative materials' such as straw. They have been breeding their animals for 50 generations (one year = one generation) without manipulative materials. Pigs are provided with a warm environment and specialist facilities for the piglets. They meet all the nesting behaviour needs, providing for them more hygienically than does straw.
Just as people want modern technology in their own lives, farming cannot go back to what it was hundreds of years ago, Carter says. New technologies have been developed as they gained more understanding of their animals, environmental and OSH requirements and the consumer.
The pork industry has invested considerably and developed special techniques and facilities for the breeding sow and the survival of her piglets. Safety is paramount, similar to the reasons humans have developed maternity hospitals.
DairyNZ has pulled together tactics that will help farmers improve on-farm efficiency and have positive benefits for the environment. These tactics are based on research, data, and lessons from leading farmers.
The design and construction of an effective dairy effluent system is a complex process.
After serving three as a DairyNZ director, Waikato farmer Chris Lewis is ready for another term.
DairyNZ has announced the date for its six-yearly Milksolids Levy vote, which will take place from Monday, 16 February to Friday, 13 March 2026.
A farm owner and two former Waikato contract milkers were recently fined $27,000 over a lack of feed for 230 cattle and a lack of treatment for cows suffering from milk fever.
State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced a new equity partnership in an effort to support pathways to farm ownership for livestock farm operators.
Following a recent overweight incursion that saw a Mid-Canterbury contractor cop a $12,150 fine, the rural contracting industry is calling time on what they consider to be outdated and unworkable regulations regarding weight and dimensions that they say are impeding their businesses.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.
A landmark New Zealand trial has confirmed what many farmers have long suspected - that strategic spring nitrogen use not only boosts pasture growth but delivers measurable gains in lamb growth and ewe condition.
It was recently announced that former MP and Southland farmer Eric Roy has stepped down of New Zealand Pork after seven years. Leo Argent talks with Eric about his time at the organisation and what the future may hold.
