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Emergency feed carrying messages of hope bound for Hawke’s Bay.
With the drought reaching a crisis level in Central Hawkes Bay with supplementary feed almost non-existent, farmers in the Wairarapa have answered the call for help.
Farmers Sophie and Dan Hansen got working on social media and by Monday last week more than 720 bales of baleage had been shipped to Hawkes Bay.
One of those who donated feed was Karen Williams who’s the chairperson of Federated Farmers Arable section. She and her husband have a mixed cropping and sheep and beef finishing operation near the town of Gladstone.
They gave five bales and also a tonne of grain. She says the social media response was great and people who donated bales wrote messages on them to the farmers who would eventually receive the feed.
“It’s just what we do in rural communities. When you see someone struggling you give generously to your country cousins. The combination of COVID and drought has been very tough for people and that’s why we look after each other. It’s about sharing the love,” she says.
In New Zealand, every dairy farmer worth their salt knows just how important it is to look after the welfare of their animals. The health of the herd directly impacts profit margins, which, in turn, determines the viability and sustainability of the farm.
The dry weather in some parts of the North Island has received medium-scale adverse event classification from the Government.
Marlborough Federated Farmers has got some real concern about the mental wellbeing of farmers and their families in the region because of the drought and there’s a lot of pressure starting to build.
The Government has expanded the medium-scale adverse event classification to cover the Canterbury and Otago regions.
Federated Farmers Marlborough Province says it welcomes the announcement yesterday that current dry weather in the top of the South Island would be classified as a medium-scale adverse event.
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Waikato herd health veterinarian Katrina Roberts is the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
