MSA triumph
OPINION: Methane Science Accord, a farmer-led organisation advocating for zero tax on ruminant methane, will be quietly celebrating its first foray into fertiliser co-operative governance.
A Te Karaka student has been awarded the Mangatu Blocks and Ravensdown Scholarship, providing three years study at Auckland University.
Roland Taupara Brown completed his secondary schooling at Gisborne Boys High School where in his final year he was named Dux for 2014.
Brown says the scholarship provides him with a unique opportunity to focus on his studies in science and commerce at Auckland University. His Bachelor of Science degree will focus on green chemistry and his Bachelor of Commerce will provide the business disciplines to ensure a balance between environmental and commercial considerations.
“Looking ahead, it’s obvious that we need more efficient and eco-friendly technologies to protect the environment and maintain our competitiveness,” he says.
“Specialist and qualified people who are able to use their knowledge and ingenuity to solve the problems are an essential part of our future. I aim to be one of those people.”
Brown has family connections with the Mangatu Blocks Incorporation, his father Tama is on the committee, his grandfather Michael was the farm supervisor during the 1970s and 1980s and his great grandfather, George was a farm manager for many years.
Brown says he looks forward to contributing to the incorporation in the future.
Mangatu Blocks Incorporation manages ancestral lands inland and to the north of Gisborne and has interests in the agribusiness, viticulture and forestry sectors.
The Mangatu Blocks Incorporation and Ravensdown university scholarship was established in 2012 for Mangatu Blocks shareholders, their children or their grandchildren, to support undergraduate study in an agricultural/ horticultural or related undergraduate degree.
The new majority owner of meat company Alliance has no plans to close any processing plants. Instead, Dawn Meats plans to extract more value from Alliance's existing footprint.
Westpac NZ has announced new initiatives that aim to give customers more options to do their banking in person.
New Zealand red meat exports experienced a 29% increase year-on-year in September, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
The head of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) biosecurity operation, Stuart Anderson, has defended the cost and the need for a Plant Healht and Environment Laboratory (PHEL) being built in Auckland.
BNZ says its new initiative, helping make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier, is being well received by customers and rural professionals.
The head of Fonterra's R&D facility in Palmerston North is set to literally cross the road and become the new vice chancellor at Massey University.