Meat co-op seeks capital from farmer shareholders
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
Ballance chief executive Mark Wynne says criticism of the nutrient management tool Overseer is “very old-school”.
Critics are not aware of where Overseer is today, he says.
“Overseer is moving rapidly into a much more user-friendly tool; the science remains the complex part but the user face is much easier.”
Wynne says New Zealand had a choice: either control the input of nutrients as in Europe, or model the output of nutrients.
“In NZ we’ve chosen the outcome approach that allows farmers to be more entrepreneurial; it’s a messy journey to get where we want to be but the trends are right.
“Overseer is the tool for the job; it’s a modeling approach and works well.
“We have hitched our wagon to Overseer; it will be the core measurement tool used in NZ for a long time.”
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.