It was an ordinary Thursday for most of us this week, but not for Southland shearer Megan Whitehead. Yesterday Megan spent nine hours tackling the women’s world lamb shearing record near Gore. Former women’s world record holder Jills Angus Burney (and the only woman to have beaten David Fagan) was supporting Megan as her mentor. “Megan achieved the […]
Wool
WOMOLife Wins Wool Harvesting Training Contract
Kaiaka Wool Industry Training NZ has awarded the contract for its new $1.8 million pilot training programme to multi-format training provider WOMOLife. Kaiaka will train up to 270 shearers and wool handlers and create 150 new jobs. At least 70% of new employees will be Māori. Kaiaka will also establish two wool harvesting (shearing and […]
A Christmas message of thanks from Federated Farmers
Before Federated Farmers farewells 2020, it wants to salute and thank some generally unsung heroes. “We all got used to talking about clusters of infection with Covid-19, but in another sense that word cluster is somewhat apt for the entire year,” Feds President Andrew Hoggard says. “It could have been a lot worse for our […]
Remarkable lambing performance in challenging year
Despite COVID-19 related processing restrictions and a widespread drought in the first half of 2020, sheep and beef farmers achieved a near record 130.3% lambing percentage. This is the finding of the Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) Lamb Crop Outlook report for 2020 that measures the lambing performance and forecasts lamb and sheep exports […]
Farmer bank pressure drops but so do satisfaction rates
Fewer farmers are feeling undue pressure from their bank but satisfaction rates continue to slide, according to the Federated Farmers November Banking Survey. Of the 1,341 farmers who responded to the survey independently run by ResearchFirst, 65.4% said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their bank relationship. That’s down from 68.5% from the Feds’ […]
Eat Meat, Wear Wool .. JUMP!
Former Federated Farmers staff member and now FMG’er Angela Hogg took her support for Kiwi farmers to the skies this week, jumping out of a plane in Kerikeri with the ‘eat meat, wear wool’ message firmly front and centre for this photo opportunity. Nice work Ange!
Could you be a mentor for winners of the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award?
Eight winners of the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award are seeking mentors to support them in reaching their personal, business and career goals. The 6-month mentoring programme will start at the beginning on 2021. The Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award was inaugurated in 2012, recognising the success of young Māori making their careers in the agricultural sector. […]
Wairarapa MP sneaks in Golden Shears invite
Question time in Parliament yesterday, when in amongst warm fuzzies about the government working with Feds and the Shearing Contractors Association to bring more shearers into the country, is a smart move by Wairarapa MP Kieran McAnulty to get Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi to confirm he will go to the Golden Shears next year. Watch […]
Bernadette Hunt wins PINZ Leadership award
Two major pieces of legislation have kicked Southland this year…. fresh water & winter grazing legislation. Both rules created havoc in Southland….in the middle of it all was Southland farmer and Federated Farmers vice president Bernadette Hunt. A tough year all around, yet at the Primary Industries awards event Bernadette Hunt vice president of Southland […]
Providers wanted for new $1.8m wool training programme
The wool industry is seeking providers for its new $1.8 m pilot training programme – Kaiaka Wool Industry Training NZ. Declining sheep numbers, poor wool prices and Covid border restrictions have combined to create a serious shortage of shearers in New Zealand. NZ Shearing Contractors’ Association chief executive Phil Holden says: “The ratio of shearers […]