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THE HEAVY snow showers falling in Southland and Otago have come at a bad time with most dairy farmers well into calving.
"There are a lot of people in Otago and Southland that are in the thick of calving, which will prove challenging with temperatures dropping to zero degrees," says Russell MacPherson.
"Whilst the snow is blanketing pastures it's the wind chill that is really going to test us. The bitter chill cuts through you and new born calves won't be able to cope for long in these conditions.
"Farmers know what they are doing and they will be busy feeding out to stock and pushing them to shelter to get them through. Whilst the wind chill has died down in the past hour the main focus will be rushing the new born calves to the calving shed to keep them warm.
"Sheep farmers will be reasonably thankful that they are not lambing just yet and still on winter rotation," MacPherson concluded.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
In Dacre, near Invercargill in New Zealand’s South Island, Bruce Dinnington is running a dairy operation unlike any other.
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Body Condition Score (BCS) is a critical element in managing the health and reproduction of the dairy herd.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) and Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed new training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices are struggling to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Synlait has swung to second-half profit as operations stabilise, but the dairy processor still posted a $75.4m annual loss.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
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