Displaying items by tag: Steve Levet

Plantings of one the dairy industry's most popular supplements is way down right across the country.

It has been a tough year so far for rural contractors with the pressure on the dairy sector, while many areas – such as Southland and the West Coast – are too wet to do anything.

Agricultural contractors around the country will soon be able to bring in overseas workers far easier than in the past following a deal between its national body and Immigration NZ.

Like many in the agri sector I was more than happy to see dairy prices rise sharply in the August 19 GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) auction. 

Last month more than 150 agricultural contractors from all around the country gathered in Blenheim for the Rural Contractors New Zealand’s (RCNZ) annual conference.

It was good to see many of our members take the opportunity to attend recent roadshows held by Rural Contractors NZ nationwide last month.

The southerly blast in April was a reminder to much of the country that winter is not far away.  Let’s hope we get a bit more mild autumn weather before winter kicks in.

It was interesting to read how the Government has made changes to immigration rules to help Queenstown employers recruit much-needed temporary staff.

Rural Contractors New Zealand is questioning why the Government has made changes to immigration rules to help Queenstown employers recruit much needed staff, but continues to ignore similar requests from the rural contracting sector.

So it's official – we now have a drought in large parts of the country: no surprise to most of us in the rural sector.