M.I.A.
OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury.
The Forest Owners Association (FOA) says its members and the supply chain are gearing up to meet the challenge of getting back to work on Tuesday 28 April.
Its members will be working within the health and safety provisions of Alert Level 3.
The forest industry was deemed to be a non-essential industry, when the Government imposed the Level 4 lockdown on 26 March.
The move to cease Level 4 on Tuesday April 28, means most parts of the forest supply chain can start moving again. These include forestry management – including aerial spraying, weed and pest management, nursery operations, planting, and seed collection. It also means log harvesting, haulage, log sales and wood products processing can all start again.
FOA President, Phil Taylor, says his organisation supported the Level 4 restrictions, but now is the time to get back to work.
“Right from the outset we have been focussed on the safety of our workforce. Since then, there has been a collaborative process to develop protocols for operations right through the supply chain.”
Taylor says the New Zealand timber processing industry has had a whole month of virtually no production, which it needs to catch up on. He says some processers have already started producing for essential industries, such as making pallets for fruit exporters.
Taylor adds that forest owners are just as eager to get exporting back to normal as well.
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.
'Common sense' cuts to government red tape will make it easier for New Zealand to deliver safe food to more markets.