The many farmers who are also landlords will want to check whether and how the second phase of changes under the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 will impact them. The first phase of changes took effect from August last year, with the major reform being that rent increases were from then limited to once every […]
Politics
Positive start to export onion season
The 2021 New Zealand export onion season is off to an early and positive start. ‘Amongst all the turmoil created by Covid and the weather, it’s great to be able to report that exports of New Zealand onions to Indonesia are underway, two months earlier than last year,’ says Onions New Zealand Chief Executive, James […]
Specialty grains and pulses trialed in Canterbury
By Annabel McAleer, Senior Communications Advisor, Our Land and Water (this article is from the National Science Challenges website). Buckwheat, soybeans and quinoa trials were undertaken in Canterbury last year, comprising three of the six ‘star’ specialty grains and pulses identified by Our Land and Water research as having high potential for New Zealand farmers. […]
Putting the bite on five myths about meat
If one of your New Year resolutions was to do better for your health and the planet by eating less meat, thumbs up to you. Can’t fault the desire to be a more conscious consumer. But before you entirely swap out beef steaks and rack of lamb for eggplant and lentils, you might check out […]
Wairoa rates review misses the mark
By Rhea Dasent, senior policy advisor for Federated Farmers Federated Farmers has a long history of submitting on Wairoa rates, so our ears pricked up when we saw the current Wairoa Rates Review. We were especially interested to read in the Council’s own words “This proposal would simplify the rating system and transfer rates from […]
Dairy notches record milksolid production in tough year
It’s been another record year for New Zealand’s dairy sector, with total milksolids production at a record high. The DairyNZ and Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) statistics show that in the 2019-20 season, New Zealand dairy companies processed 21.1 billion litres of milk containing 1.90 billion kilograms of milksolids (kg MS). This is a 0.6 percent […]
Federated Farmers hails pragmatic migrant worker visa decisions
Farmers and growers up and down the land will be pleased with the pragmatic decision by government to extend visas for migrant workers already on our shores. “The six-month extension for employer-assisted work visa holders and the postponed stand down period for low-paid Essential Skills via holders will come as a relief for the primary […]
Winter grazing recommendations will work for environment, and farmers – Bernadette Hunt
Southland Federated Farmers Vice-President Bernadette Hunt is confident that recommended changes to proposed winter grazing rules put to the government this week will work for the environment as well as farmers. “We believe freshwater outcomes will be improved by the recommendations [the Southland Advisory Group] have made because they are very outcome-focused and backed by […]
Dairy earns close to one in four of our total export dollars
The dairy sector will be feeling encouraged by today’s GDP results that emphasise New Zealand’s economic rebound amid Covid-19. The dairy sector is playing a key role in a stable economy, contributing nearly one in every four dollars earned from total goods exports and services in the year to September 2020. Recent Sense Partners analysis, […]
NZ’s first 100 year agreement to innovate
Lincoln University and Taupō dairy company Miraka have today jointly announced the signing of a ‘100-year’ Memorandum of Understanding to team up and provide a real-world farming context to test innovative new farming practices. The partnership is the first of its kind in New Zealand and research areas will include Aotearoa-specific regenerative agriculture approaches, emerging […]