M.I.A.
OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury.
The New Zealand Dairy Workers Union is talking to dairy processors on how workers would isolate if they contract Covid.
Union general secretary Chris Flatt says part of these ongoing discussions relate to sick leave and how people can isolate if they get sick.
He notes that, like in the cities, there are multi-generational households in rural areas and that presents its own challenges.
"The Government has talked about some support around this as well, but we need to ensure workers can isolate and be off work and not feel pressured to go back to work early," he told Dairy News.
"A lot of our collectives have good sick-leave provisions. From what we have seen overseas, we need to prepare for huge amounts of sick leave to be taken," he says.
At the same time, Flatt says they have to look after people and make sure that they are not doing too much, and that their collective employment agreement terms are complied with.
"But at the same time recognising there may need to be some flexibility on certain sites because we could have large numbers of workers just being on sick leave.
"We have been through the discussions in the last 24 months, making sure that in lockdown people are safe... but I am now looking ahead to see, what does that look like in terms of supply lines, such as picking up milk?"
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
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OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…