increase font size
MPI director general Ray Smith.
The Ministry for Primary Industries says, in the space of a week, it’s had over 120 applications for assistance from the special drought recovery fund.
The fund offers farmers in areas badly hit by the drought to access $5,000 worth of specialist advisory services to help them get their businesses back on track for next season. The fund, which is administered by MPI, is to help farmers and horticulturalists to get quality advice on such issues as strategic planning, technical advice on soil and pastures and sustainable management techniques.
MPI director general Ray Smith says dealing with the drought is incredibly challenging for many farmers and while assistance from the fund won’t help farmers in the short term it will help get them back on their feet for next season.
Smith says the Rural Support Trusts have been doing a great job and in the last week the Hawkes Bay trust fielded more than 160 calls from farmers.
“Hopefully at Level 2 Alert, there will be an opportunity for the trust to get out and check if other farmers are facing stress,” he told Rural News.
Smith says operating within Level 2 is getting back to a more normal environment which will be positive for rural communities. He says it will see rural supply stores open, sale yards opening and stores such as butchers, fruit and vegetable stores and fish shops also open for business.
But he says these businesses will have to meet the strict protocols that allow them to open. These include maintaining hygiene standards, physical distancing, keeping groups to a maximum of 10 people and having a system of recording anyone who comes into a business.
“Meat processing plants are back to normal and some are operating at 100% capacity,” Smith adds. “I think the meat industry has done an outstanding job, along with the packhouses, dairy companies and all the other groups that have worked during lockdowns four and three.”
Under alert level 2, MPI plans to phase-in the return of staff to offices around the country. Smith says initially about 30% of staff will be back in their offices – with the remainder still working from home.
With adverse weather set to rain down on the Top of the South, the Bay of Plenty and parts of Northland, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says farmers, foresters, and growers need to prepare for possible challenges.
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.
OPINION: Ministry for Primary Industries' situation outlook for primary industries report (SOPI) makes impressive reading.
A major milestone on New Zealand's unique journey to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis could come before the end of this year.
OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.
