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.
Some of the 21,000 apple trees and plant material involved in the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) biosecurity action are very important to the industry, says Alan Pollard, Pipfruit NZ chief executive officer.
“The imports are a significant contribution to the industry because [they are] the next generation of cultivars -- improvements on existing varieties,” Pollard told Rural News. “So certainly it is significant.”
MPI has decided risky apple and stone fruit plant material imported from a US testing facility must be contained or destroyed to protect New Zealand from biosecurity risk. This follows an MPI audit in March which found notable failures at Clean Plant Centre Northwest in Washington State.
The industry may keep priority plant material as long as it’s properly contained while MPI determines if it can be tested for diseases so it may be released in the future. Almost 48,000 affected apple and stonefruit plants and small trees are secured at 50 sites in Hawke’s Bay, Waikato, Nelson and Central Otago.
Asked if he thought MPI was influenced by the High Court decision on the kiwifruit claim that found MPI’s predecessor MAF failed in its duty of care with Psa, Pollard says, “I think it certainly caused them to think about how they act and respond in these situations”.
“And I am not surprised they would do that. I think if I were in their shoes I would too.”
Labour's agriculture spokesperson Jo Luxton says while New Zealand needs more housing, sacrificing our best farmland to get there is not the answer.
Profitability issues facing arable farmers are the same across the world, says New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr.
Over 85% of Fonterra farmer suppliers will be eligible for customer funding up to $1,500 for solutions designed to drive on-farm efficiency gains and reduce emissions intensity.
Tighter beef and lamb production globally have worked to the advantage of NZ, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
Groundswell is ramping up its 'Quit Paris' campaign with signs going up all over the country.
Some farmers in the Nelson region are facing up to five years of hard work to repair their damaged properties caused by the recent devastating floods.
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