Unreal hot air
OPINION: The Hound is perplexed about some of the over-the-top climate catastrophising by mainstream media outlets during the holidays.
Cropping farmers have had to put up with an unusually wet start to summer.
Richard Porter, who farms 500ha at St Andrews, south of Timaru, told Rural News his wheat was “looking fantastic” a month ago, but he is now struggling with fusarium brought on by the wet.
Peas on heavy land are also having problems with wet feet, he said, quipping that he is now “reasonably pessimistic”.
“They won’t be harvested for another month yet, but just looking at them I can tell already that some aren’t looking very good.”
Porter’s neighbour, Miles Anderson, said the wet November and December resulted in such boggy paddocks that he had to use a neighbour’s tracked header to get a winter barley crop in.
“Otherwise I’d be waiting for weeks. I know a lot of people on the heavier country are having trouble harvesting their barley because of the ground conditions.”
Rural trader PGG Wrightson has revised its operating earnings guidance, saying trading conditions have deteriorated since the last market update in February.
It's been a bumper season for maize and other supplements in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
Leading farmers from around New Zealand connected to share environmental stories and inspiration and build relationships at the Dairy Environment Leaders (DEL) national forum in Wellington last month.
AgriZeroNZ, a joint venture fast-tracking emissions reduction tools for farmers, is pouring $5 million in a biotech company to develop a low emissions farm pasture with increased productivity gains.
Fonterra is teaming up with wealth app provider Sharesies to make it easier for its farmer shareholders to trade co-op shares among themselves.
Te Awamutu dairy farmers Doug, Penny, Josh and Bayley Storey have planted more than 25,000 native trees on the family farm, adding to a generations-old native forest.