Horses need to eat 1.5% to 3% of their body weight every day, depending on their workload and metabolism. If they aren’t foraging much grass, that can mean five or six kilograms of hay a day for an adult horse. It’s not hard to work out that NZ Riding for the Disabled, which has more […]
SpotLight
Help for farmers to know their greenhouse gas numbers
A new guide and tools have been released to help farmers with measuring, managing, and reducing agricultural greenhouse gases. He Waka Eke Noa: The Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership has developed two information sources to help industry bodies and farmers understand their agricultural greenhouse gas emissions: Greenhouse Gases: Farm Planning Guidance, and The Greenhouse Gases […]
Maintaining roads is key step to traffic safety
By Rhea Dasent, Federated Farmers Regional Policy Advisor Federated Farmers supports road safety as a priority in its submission on the Regional Land Transport Plan for Hawke’s Bay. Ensuring road maintenance is adequately funded and actually carried out will complement the safety strategy. Many rural councils are falling further behind in essential maintenance of roads, which shortens the lifetime of […]
Hotter, drier, CRISPR: editing for climate change
Gene editing technology will play a vital role in climate-proofing future crops to protect global food supplies, according to scientists at The University of Queensland. Biotechnologist Dr Karen Massel from UQ’s Centre for Crop Science has published a review of gene editing technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 to safeguard food security in farming systems under stress from extreme and variable climate conditions. […]
Pig farmers worried by High Court ruling
A High Court ruling around the use of mating stalls and farrowing crates has the potential to significantly impact New Zealand pig farming, says NZ Pork. In November, the High Court ruled regulations and minimum standards regarding use of the stalls and crates were unlawful and invalid. The Court directed the Animal Welfare Minister to […]
A new way to encourage the use of seat belts
WorkSafe New Zealand has launched a new side-by-side vehicle simulator to try to get the message about wearing seatbelts to click with farmers. Federated Farmers vice president and spokesperson for workplace health and safety Karen Williams and the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Michael Wood gave the simulator a go at the Wellington demo […]
Upgraded B+L website appeals to foodies
Barbeque season is in full swing and Beef + Lamb New Zealand are coming in hot with an upgrade to their foodies website: RECIPES.CO.NZ The well-used consumer website now has the tools to make cooking favourite beef and lamb recipes easier. Beef + Lamb use the website to link consumers with quality product information. They […]
Ewe’ll love this milk
Sheep milk … is it really a thing? More than 250 people turned out at the first Sheep Milk New Zealand open day last week, to see for themselves what sheep milk might mean for the future of New Zealand’s primary industries. The open day was held at Tuscany Downs, Kirwee, 40 minutes west of […]
Wairarapa farmers leading the way with wetland restoration
A partnership of Wairarapa farmers is a part of a growing wetland restoration movement to build community resilience against flooding, drought, landslides and water pollution. Since 2016 the partnership has been proactively fencing off stock, planting native plants and trapping pest animals to restore wetlands and surrounding areas on Hapua farm. However, restoration work began over a decade ago. The Hapua […]
Peanut crops trialled in Northland
Pic’s Peanut Butter has kicked off a project to look at the feasibility of growing peanuts commercially in Northland, with backing from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). The $91,320 project is led by Picot Productions, and MPI is contributing more than $59,000 through its Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund. Research expertise is being […]