Federated Farmers is once again championing the whio (blue duck) to take the Bird of the Year title. New Zealanders sticking to their home bubble under COVID alert levels should feel some affinity for this plucky and endangered native duck because they also live rather isolated lives in the less modified catchments of the Urerewa, […]
Animal Welfare
Parasite resistance to drenches Action Plan launched
A new Action Plan designed to help manage parasite resistance to drenches in New Zealand has been launched. Encouraging the responsible marketing and sales of drench, more accurate and easier parasite testing, research to demonstrate the costs and benefits of various parasite management approaches and better training and development are among the new priorities in […]
Green light for composting shelter study
By Simon Edwards There’s growing farmer interest in composting shelters – sometimes called “composting mootels” – but not a lot of verifiable information on how they impact the environment and balance sheets. A team led by Rachel Durie of Perrin Ag Consultants aims to change that. As one of 12 projects to get the green […]
Message is clear on minimum tail length
It might be called different things depending on where you are located in the country, but be it tailing or docking, the outcome is the same – it is about improving the health and welfare of sheep and lambs. Removing the tail prevents faecal matter from accumulating on the tail and hindquarters of the animal, in […]
There’s life in the old dog yet
Man’s best friend has been a trusted and long-time employee on the farm since humans woke up and realised how smart dogs are. But it doesn’t have to be the end of a happy life when they get too old, have had a career-ending injury or just won’t quite make the cut. This was the […]
Evolving winter grazing improvements hit a good path forwards
By Simon Edwards If there’s one thing about the whole winter grazing saga that brasses off Bernadette Hunt (and to be fair, there are quite a few things) it’s the impression some have that farmers have only just woken up to the need to lift their game on getting animals through the cold months while […]
Update from the Canterbury floods
We are now at day 106 after the 2021 Canterbury floods, and even though his own farm was ravaged by floodwater in the May 30th floods, Federated Farmers board member Chris Allen still managed to document the journey via a series of short videos. We have put them all together in a short video that […]
Feds: Pragmatism finally prevails on winter grazing
Farmers will breathe a considerable sigh of relief over news the government has accepted most of the Southland Advisory Group’s winter grazing recommendations, and will now consult on proposed revised rules. “Everyone wants strong protection for our waterways but from the day they came out Feds had said a number of aspects of the Essential […]
Family violence response extends to refuge for pets
by Lauren Hale A 2018 Women’s Refuge survey of victims who had experienced animal abuse found that 53% delayed fleeing violent situations out of fear for their pet’s safety. As an answer to this, the charity Pet Refuge has been set up to offer safe shelters for small or large pets – and even offer […]
Disease detective joins TB eradication push
When you hear the word epidemiologist these days you probably might think of the experts who are figuring out how to tackle COVID-19. But the brief is wider than humans. Essentially, epidemiology is the study of disease outbreaks and plays a big part in identifying the source of an outbreak, as well as monitoring and […]