Farmers hail changes to Resource Management Act
Changes to resource management laws announced last week will spare thousands of farmers from needing an unnecessary resource consent just to keep farming.
A three-year community-led project to replant the riparian margins of the Waitoa River between the Puketuku and Station Road bridges near Matamata has been completed.
Landowners on either side of the river between the two bridges have upgraded eight kilometres of fencing and, with funding and support from Waikato Regional Council (WRC) and Fonterra's Sustainable Catchments programme, planted about 17,000 native plants and trees.
WRC Hauraki catchment team leader Aniwa Tawa says the project wrapped up with a final planting day involving staff from both Fonterra and WRC infill planting a further 200 trees and doing some weeding to release young plants put in the ground in previous years.
"The effort that has been put into this project by everyone has just been so awesome," says Tawa.
"All that is requireed to be done now is some ongoing maintenance by the landowners to keep the young plants free of weeds so they can flourish and grow to be big and strong."
Acclaimed fruit grower Dean Astill never imagined he would have achieved so much in the years since being named the first Young Horticulturist of the Year, 20 years ago.
The Ashburton-based Carrfields Group continues to show commitment to future growth and in the agricultural sector with its latest investment, the recently acquired 'Spring Farm' adjacent to State Highway 1, Winslow, just south of Ashburton.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.