Police misfire on gun licences
Police hope to clear a backlog in the processing of new firearms licences and licence renewals ahead of the beginning of duck hunting season in May.
While police are investigating the theft of 500 cows from an Ashburton farm, another nearby farmer says it is the third known theft of cows this year in a 50km radius of that farm.
Ashburton police say they have visited the farm which reported the 500-cow loss and taken statements. Farm administrator Pennie Saunders put an appeal on Facebook for anyone who had heard or seen anything suspicious.
Nearby farmer Jill Quigley says they had 36 Kiwi Cross cows stolen in December or January and another property had 18 disappear earlier this year – all within a 20km area. She fears more farms may report losses as they bring the cows in for calving.
"It certainly makes everybody security conscious but short of sleeping under a tree where your cows are grazing, what can you do?" she asks.
"A lot of us have security cameras, but they only cover a certain area.
"I just hope they can get to the bottom of it, because how many others have gone missing that people haven't picked up on yet?" Quigley said to Rural News.
"The cows are coming back in for calving after grazing and people will be doing head counts. I just hope no others have gone."
She says with the NAIT tags they thought their 36 cows would be tracked down, but they weren't.
"Whoever is doing this is well organised; they know the system and how they can beat it; this is extremely frustrating.
"This type of stuff is scary because somebody could get hurt if somebody catches these people in the act; people will only put up with so much."
Quigley says the Saunders are great farmers and she is at a loss, along with the rest of the community, to know how this happened.
When the Quigleys lost their 36 cows over two weeks, the police investigated "and we obviously did a lot of digging and delving and investigating, but nothing ever came of it". They simply vanished," she says.
"Ours were stolen when they were being milked so that is how we got onto it quickly because obviously the ProTrak [milking data system] told us we were down on our numbers and production."
The reported missing 500 cows – from a herd of 1300 – went missing during winter grazing so were not quickly picked up. Its early days in the 500 cow investigation, but they seem to "have just vanished too," Quigley says.
"It is frightening trying to farm; it is hard enough trying to make a living the way things are without this carry-on happening.
"I am hoping somewhere the police will get some leads and can nip this in the bud."
She doesn't know of thefts in other seasons.
"We got to the stage when ours went that we exhausted all our possibilities and the police did the same and we just had to say 'right we've got to get on and recover the costs and keep going' or it would have done our heads in.
"We had just put it aside, then this brought it all back again. We want to stand alongside them and support them and see justice done."
Police say they cannot comment further while the investigation is underway.
Farmer-led charity, Meat the Need is calling for donations to enable it to supply more meals to families in need.
Weaker pricing and demand from China continue to impact New Zealand red meat export earnings.
Fonterra has cemented its position as the country’s number one cheesemaker by picking up nine NZ Champion of Cheese trophies this year.
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.