PETA wants web cams in shearing sheds
Animal rights protest group PETA is calling for Agriculture Minister Todd McClay to introduce legislation which would make it mandatory to have live-streaming web cameras in all New Zealand shearing shed.
KILLING bobby calves with hammer blows to their heads should send shivers down the spine of every Kiwi dairy farmer.
The days of ‘she’ll be right’ are gone, as are the days when ‘what happens on the farm stays on the farm’.
And perceptions held by onlookers are as important as ever. Vast numbers of people now own a camera-cellphone, and social media can spread misinformation at light speed.
Trying to educate the public about farming practices is by-and-large a lost cause because townies, especially in Auckland and Wellington, dwell in another universe.
It may be that farmers now must try to think like an imagined Aucklander -- or a Berliner -- to try to second-guess their perceptions of how farming is and how it ought to be.
The citizens of Grey Lynn and Karori need to know that farmers see no great sport in bashing their baby charges with hammers, nor, for that matter, having their vets induce calves. We acknowledge the public, with the animal ethicists, want animals killed ‘nicely’. (Sentient beings are to be euthanased humanely, not bashed to death.)
New Zealand agribusiness is vulnerable because it pitches its products to the affluent and educated – the high end of the market. The reward is better prices, the requirement is higher standards.
Farming leaders need to get off the fence and lead from the front, personally showing their farms as examples of best practice in animal welfare. One-time airline owner Sir Reg Ansett once said “the speed of the boss is the speed of the team”. Right!
Dairy farmers need to be one step ahead of the consumer and offer new value propositions that show they are leaders not followers of best practice.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.
A leading financial and banking advisor says he doubts if most dairy farmers fully understand the dynamics of banking.
Dairy farmers are shoring up their balance sheets, with almost $1.7 billion of debt repaid in the six months to March 2025.
Virtual fencing company Halter is going global but for founder Craig Piggott, New Zealand farmers will always remain their main partners.
A former Fonterra executive is the new chair of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ).
New Federated Farmers national dairy chair Karl Dean is looking forward to tackling the issues facing the sector.