Fat to cut
OPINION: Your canine crusader understands that MPI were recently in front of the Parliamentary Primary Sector Select Committee for an 8-hour marathon hearing.
It's time to give complying raw milk suppliers a break by easing the regulations on distribution, says a supplier.
Richard Houston, managing director of Takaka-based Village Milk, otherwise welcomes MPI's crackdown on unlicensed raw milk suppliers.
Raw milk suppliers can only sell direct to their customers, either at the farm gate – often through automated on-farm vending machines — or by home delivery. It cannot be sold at another location.
“Current legislation’s pretty tight on distribution,” said Houston.
“They consider the milk to be a really high risk but we’ve been running seven years now and we’ve never been faulted.
“We’ve got a really good procedure we follow every day, we test regularly and we’ve got great animals and a beautiful little farm.”
Houston said Village Milk is sold at the farm in reusable glass bottles, which his customers were managing “really well”.
“It would be great to be able to take the milk a bit closer to the people. Not everyone can drive to the farm.”
Houston said raw milk is fantastic as a whole food.
“The legislation’s there. The milk’s safe.”
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.