McRae Wins Southern South Island B+LNZ Director Vote
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand Western North Island farmer director Kirsten Bryant has been elected unopposed.
An election will be held in the Central South Island with candidates, John Gregan of Timaru and Bill Wright of Cave, being nominated for one farmer director position.
Voting papers to farmers in the Central South Island will be posted on February 5 and will need to be returned by Election Day on Friday, March 18.
Electionz.com is conducting the election on behalf of Beef + Lamb New Zealand and all enquiries should be directed to the returning officer, Warwick Lampp 0800 666 030.
To be eligible to vote farmers must be on the Beef + Lamb New Zealand electoral roll and they need to have owned livestock on June 30, 2015 - at least 250 sheep, or 50 beef cattle, or 100 dairy cattle.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) and Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed new training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices are struggling to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Synlait has swung to second-half profit as operations stabilise, but the dairy processor still posted a $75.4m annual loss.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.

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