App helps get best out of pasture
Ever wondered what the financial result would be if you let pasture weeds get away on you? There's now a tool to find the answer.
The industry association for animal health and crop protection companies has appointed a new president.
Gavin Kerr, Country Manager for agrichemical company Nufarm, was appointed Agcarm’s president at its annual meeting last week.
Kerr says he would like to see one important change implemented before the end of his three-year term: fast-tracked products to the New Zealand market.
“Farmers and growers need and deserve access to the best and latest products. But New Zealand is missing out on new, more effective treatments due to delays that discourage investment in introducing these technologies.
“Delays in the regulation of field trials and research means that our farmers and growers are missing out on cutting edge products. These delays can set back projects for two years, so undermine the viability of having domestic research and development programmes.
“In New Zealand, we require agrichemical companies to invest in trials, which can cost up to $500,000 to register a product. The delays mean that it is not economically viable to introduce some products, making it difficult to find replacements for older and less environmentally friendly products.”
Kerr says New Zealand growers bear the cost through limited access to these products and lost production.
“We must ensure that New Zealand farmers have access to the most effective science and solutions that are sustainable and add value.”
Kerr manages the Nufarm New Zealand business and was first elected to the Agcarm Board in 2016.
Following a recent overweight incursion that saw a Mid-Canterbury contractor cop a $12,150 fine, the rural contracting industry is calling time on what they consider to be outdated and unworkable regulations regarding weight and dimensions that they say are impeding their businesses.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.
A landmark New Zealand trial has confirmed what many farmers have long suspected - that strategic spring nitrogen use not only boosts pasture growth but delivers measurable gains in lamb growth and ewe condition.
It was recently announced that former MP and Southland farmer Eric Roy has stepped down of New Zealand Pork after seven years. Leo Argent talks with Eric about his time at the organisation and what the future may hold.
It's critical that the horticulture sector works together as part of a goal to double the sector’s exports by 2035.
RaboResearch, the research arm of specialist agriculture industry banker Rabobank, sees positives for the Alliance Group in its proposed majority-stake sale to Ireland's Dawn Meats.