Expensive pet food!
OPINION: Your canine crusader was staggered to learn that an investigation by the Taxpayers' Union has revealed that taxpayers and Otago ratepayers have forked out more than $2.76 million to kill just... 18 wallabies!
A 1080 poison drop in the Blue Mountains, Otago, has knocked rodent and stoat numbers down to “undetectable levels”, says OSPRI, which runs the TBfree scheme.
OSPRI teamed up with DOC in the Blue Mountains, as part of the Battle for our Birds campaign.
Stoat numbers “fell dramatically: monitoring by tracking tunnels showed stoats at undetectable levels (0%) compared to 38% in November last year prior to the aerial pest kill operation”.
Tracking results also showed rats and mice had dropped to 0% in the treatment area from rates of 10% and 30%, respectively, says Brent Rohloff, OSPRI’s southern South Island programme manager.
The Blue Mountains is a TB risk area, where infected wild animals have been found.
“The Blue Mountains operation shows we have the skills and capability to stamp out TB in wild animals and [support] biodiversity gains,” says Rohloff.
DOC spokeswoman Ros Cole said the TBfree operation was welcomed at a time when DOC was busy with other Battle for our Birds pest control work in the South Island.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.