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.
Animal-rights organisation Save Animals from Exploitation (SAFE) are calling to ban intensive feedlots, which it termed “the Americanisation” of agriculture.
The call follows ANZCO’s Five Star Beef feedlot being thrust into the public limelight after the discovery of M. bovis.
ANZCO general manager, agriculture and livestock, Grant Bunting says the animal welfare implications of the feedlot system are “very minor”.
Part of the reason it came as a surprise to the public that the Five Star feedlot even existed is that it had no welfare issues, he adds.
“I would argue we are exemplary in the way we present the cattle and the way we maintain the feedlot. I’m comfortable in that,” Bunting told Rural News.
He accepts there are other points of view, “but from our perspective, those cattle are very well cared for”.
The feedlot pens consist of straw bedding on a stabilised base. Part of the rationale for its coastal location is the more temperate climate than found inland.
Bunting says the feedlot was subject to environmental consents and conditions, subject to expiration.
“We would be just as aware as anybody at the moment that farming practices have to be sustainable, so what may have been acceptable for the past 10 years is highly unlikely to be acceptable for the coming 10 years,” he adds.
“I suspect we’ll be like many people in the rural environment, where we’ll have to give consideration to what our farming systems are going to look like going forward.”
Bunting says the whole industry is probably feeling the scrutiny of the public.
“Whether it’s social license, consumer trends or whatever, there’s certainly a requirement to be very mindful of what that landscape might look like because one thing’s for sure, it’s going to constantly change.”
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.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
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