University of Waikato research reveals 2050 drought threats
New research could help farmers prepare for a future where summer rainfall is increasingly unpredictable and where drought risk is rising, no matter what.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has got into the act over the drought by announcing a major new relief package in Northland.
Last week she visited Northland with ministers to announce a $12 million assistance package.
She says the rural sector across the North Island is currently doing it tough with significant and sustained droughts in many areas. The PM says water is running low across the board – for drinking supplies, the primary sector and firefighting storage – and help is need to get communities through this.
The $12 million package includes $10 million for what the government calls ‘immediate needs’ such as delivering water for consumption, sanitation, wastewater systems, stock welfare and horticulture. It will also include $421,000 to extend the reach of rural assistance payments – which can be used to buy water and $2 million to support farmers and growers in drought hit areas across the North Island, parts of the South Island and the Chatham Islands
It seems this latest package is not only designed to help farmers and horticulturalists but also to ensure that all rural communities have plentiful supplies of water which would be needed in the event of any outbreak of corona virus where personal hygiene would be a key factor.
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.