Thursday, 26 April 2018 08:53

Calves yield cash for rural communities

Written by 
Affco is urging farmers to sign up again for its Cash for Calves scheme. Affco is urging farmers to sign up again for its Cash for Calves scheme.

Meat processor Affco is urging farmers to sign up again for its Cash for Calves scheme that last year put $90,000 into rural communities.

Each season the suppliers fill out a registration form on which they nominate their school or local fire service.  

For every calf supplied, Affco donates 40 cents to the nominated recipient -- a donation by the meat company that doesn’t come out of the schedule payment.

Affco national livestock manager Tom Young says farmer suppliers often volunteer at rural fire stations and schools, and local people rely on them to bring their communities together, look out for families and keep them safe.

“Affco has been donating to rural primary schools since 2006 through our Bobby Calf Cash for Schools and in 2013 in response to supplier feedback we introduced the option to nominate their rural fire brigade.

“Bobby calves are a fact of life on a dairy farm, and with this scheme everyone wins.  We work hard to get the best value for our suppliers; bobby calves are picked up regularly and processed fast, and we return cash to our communities at the end of each season.”

In December, schools receive a payment from AFFCO with a statement of who supplied the calves.  The New Zealand Fire Service is given a donation and they distribute payments to their volunteer services.

In 2017 a total of $21,000 was donated to fire services and $70,000 to rural schools. Affco has donated at least $1 million to rural communities since the donation scheme started in 2006.

Farmers should have received their registration forms by mail, or they can download them from http://www.affco.co.nz/livestock/bobby-calf-registration/, phone 0800 722 422 or contact their AFFCO/SPM buyer.  

Registrations are due on May 1 in the North Island and June 1 in the South Island.

More like this

Gong for Waikato farming leader

Waikato farming leader Sam Lewis says he’s surprised and delighted at being made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and the community in the latest King’s Birthday Honours list.

Family affair for stockmen

Call at the Affco Horotiu stockyards any time between 5am and 5pm on any day and the chances are Mike Winikerei will be there.

Lamb turns the corner

Markets for New Zealand lamb have performed strongly for the last six months, says Affco general manager Andy Leonard.

Featured

Pāmu farm opens gate to urban visitors

For many urban New Zealanders, stepping into Pāmu’s Pinta dairy farm near Taupo last month was the first time they had had the chance to experience farm life up close.

National

Machinery & Products

Gong for NH dealers

New Holland dealers from around Australia and New Zealand came together last month for the Dealer of the Year Awards,…

A true Kiwi ingenuity

The King Cobra raingun continues to have a huge following in the New Zealand market and is also exported to…

Data crucial to managing water

Watermetrics was formed as a water data collector and currently supplies and services modern technology such as flow meters, soil…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Dairy power

OPINION: The good times felt across the dairy sector weren't lost at last week's Beef + Lamb NZ annual meeting.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter