The real emergency
The nutters of the green world, aided and abetted by the lamestream media, are rewriting the English language for the worse.
Federated Farmers says palm kernel expeller (PKE) is not to be blamed for Indonesian forest fires.
The fires, which have burned for more than three weeks, were a result of clearing rainforests and peatlands for palm plantations. Indonesia is now on track to release more carbon dioxide this year than the entire United Kingdom.
"It's important to remember that PKE is not the reason for these fires or tropical deforestation. It is a by-product of the extraction of palm oil and palm kernel oil which would otherwise be treated as waste," says Federated Farmers Dairy chair Andrew Hoggard.
"Dairy farmers are taking this waste product and making use of it as a supplementary food source, used mainly as an alternative to pasture during adverse weather such as droughts, to maintain the welfare of herds and the productivity of New Zealand's vitally important dairy industry."
The Feds say they echo the concerns of Greenpeace and others regarding the devastation and environmental impact of forest fires.
However, Greenpeace has in the past condemned PKE for contributing to deforestation and its high carbon cost.
Greenpeace executive director Dr Russel Norman is now urging Fonterra to provide evidence that its use of palm products is not contributing to the fires.
Hoggard replied "This is typical tall poppy stuff. Fonterra and its dairy farmers source their PKE from a single suppler that operates on a sustainable basis."
"This provider – Wilmar – has a 'no burning, no deforestation' policy and its plantation operations are audited by The Forest Trust, an independent, non-government organisation. To lay any of the blame for these fires with Fonterra is utterly unfair."
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
A day after the ouster of PGG Wrightson’s chair and his deputy, the listed rural trader’s board has appointed John Nichol as the new independent chair.
The iconic services building at National Fieldays' Mystery Creek site will be demolished to make way for a "contemporary replacement that better serves the needs of both the community and event organisers," says board chair Jenni Vernon.