Inspection flights 'box-ticking exercise'
Southland farmers say forced rules enforcements around winter grazing is just a "box ticking exercise".
SOUTHLAND FARMERS are advised to move stock to sheltered areas with snow forecast to near sea level on Sunday.
MetService is predicting a series of cold fronts will cross the South Island at the weekend, with snow likely to affect higher roads and passes tomorrow, and heavy falls likely on Sunday, in particular on the Milford Road and in the Catlins areas.
MetService says the snow will be accompanied by strong to gale force south to south-west winds and this will add to the bitterly cold temperatures.
Emergency Management Southland's Craig Sinclair says they will be monitoring the situation over the weekend.
"There's possibly going to be a lot of snow so people may want to think about whether they need to travel or not, particularly on Sunday," he says.
Meanwhile Southland's rivers are reacting quickly to rainfall, due to already saturated soils. Environment Southland activated its flood warning status on Wednesday morning (21/5), which monitors rivers and rainfall throughout Southland.
After recent rainfall many river levels have been higher than usual during the past day.
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.
Two major red meat sector projects are getting up to a combined $1.7 million in funding from the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
Angus Barr and Tara Dwyer of The Wandle, Lone Star Farms in Strath Taieri have been named the Regional Supreme Winners at the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Dunedin.
OPINION: The distress that the politicians and bureaucrats are causing to the people of Wairoa and the wider Tairāwhiti is unforgivable.
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.