End of war on farming, say farmers
Federated Farmers says changes announced to the Resource Management Act today mark the end of the war on farming.
Dairy farmers in the lower North Island also faced power outages after a series of earthquakes this morning.
Federated Farmers dairy chairman, Andrew Hoggard who farms in the Manawatu, says the power went off at his farm immediately after the quake and didn’t come back on until 6.30am.
He says when the power went off he looked at the Powerco website and found that there were massive electricity cuts across the Taranaki, Whanganui, Manawatu and Wairarapa regions.
Hoggard used his generator to start milking and finally switched to mains power when it came on at 6.30am
He says he’s spoken to farmers in Culverdon but says so far he’s heard no reports of farmers being unable to milk. The issue he says could be the roads and the ability for farmers in places such as Kaikoura to get their milk to a dairy factory.
Hoggard says he’s not expecting to hear reports of damage until later in the day. He says if there problems, farmers will be too busy fixing things to get on the phone and report the problem to him.
Powerco which run the electricity network in the lower North Island says the 7.5 magnitude earthquake caused power to be cut around 30,000 properties on the company’s electricity network.
Regions worst affected were Taranaki (13,000), Whanganui (8,000), Manawatu (7,000) and Wairarapa (2,000).
Powerco network coordination manager Dean Stevenson says restoration efforts were progressing extremely well, with just 1,800 customers without supply at 8am.
He said the earthquake had caused overhead power lines to clash, triggering supply to automatically shut off. Stevenson says each affected line needs to be physically checked by field staff before power can be turned on again.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.
World Veterinary Day falls on Saturday 27 April.