Bikinis in cowshed
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.
Dealing with the outfall from Covid-19 is one of the top priorities in the coming year for Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) boss Ray Smith.
He told Rural News that getting his front line staff vaccinated is essential so that they and other staff can support farmers and industry through the “inevitable” future outbreaks of the virus.
“I don’t underestimate the Covid issue and we can’t afford to have our industries closed down or not meet trading expectations,” he told Rural News.
Smith says he’s full of praise for the way the agricultural sector has coped with Covid during the past year.
“They have been awesome. We have taken our ag sector community through three lockdowns of different forms and our export revenues will be similar to last year,” he says. “Volume is good, but the exchange rate may peel a bit off the final result.”
Smith says MPI staff have performed exceptionally well and stuck to the rules and not one of them has become infected with the virus. For his part, Smith is a member of a small group of chief executives from key government agencies responsible for matters pertaining to the border.
The group called the ‘border executive’ includes the CEO’s of Customs, MFAT, MBIE, NZTE and Transport. Smith says the role of this group is to ensure that there is good coordination around border-related issues.
Smith says another interesting aside to the Covid crisis is that a number of MPI’s leading epidemiologists who were working on the M. bovis outbreak have been working with colleagues from the Ministry of Health on Covid. He says this highlights the transferable nature of their skills.
Federated Farmers is joining major industry-good bodies in not advocating for the Government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…
OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…