Unreal hot air
OPINION: The Hound is perplexed about some of the over-the-top climate catastrophising by mainstream media outlets during the holidays.
Prolonged wet weather and surface flooding is causing concern on-farm during a very busy period in the farming calendar, with calving and in some pockets, lambing, underway.
"I know when we hit a long dry spell farmers will look back at the rain longingly. But what many need right now are days or weeks of fine settled weather to dry out," says Katie Milne, Federated Farmers Adverse Events spokesperson.
"The only way to describe much of rural New Zealand is sodden and there'll be plenty of people in the towns and cities who'd probably agree. Farmers are hoping for a decent fine spell in order for saturated pasture to recover.
"Our advice to livestock farmers, especially those with cattle, is to avoid pugging damage where they can. Heavy pugging can seriously knock back pasture growth rates and even moderate damage can put your farm behind the eight-ball.
"Being a West Coaster we know a bit about heavy rain. Experience tells us you can get away with one wet grazing but if you have to graze wet again, farmers need to either stand off cattle after three hours grazing or once they've eaten grass down to a desired residual.
"If you don't avoid pugging damage your farm pasture, your stock and your balance sheet will suffer ahead of our key growing season," Milne says.
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.