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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.
The Government has acknowledged that all was not right in MPI’s handling of the M. bovis crisis.
Last week Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern admitted things could have been done better.
She and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor unveiled new initiatives designed to make it easier for farmers to claim compensation and to give them more support.
These include an online tool to calculate milk production losses, a simpler form to lodge a compensation claim and the funding of a DairyNZ/Beef + LambNZ compensation assistance team to help farmers with their claims.
Of NZ’s 24,000 farms, 74 have been infected with M. bovis and 36 destocked and cleared of the disease.
Ardern says the new initiatives will help farmers and their families hit by the disease to move on and get back in business.
Eradicating the disease is still a priority.
Winter grazing is looming again and the Ministry for Primary Industries says it's going to increase proactive farm visits and provide practical advice for farmers in the lead up to the season.
The primary sector is welcoming the appointment of Dr John Roche as the Prime Minister's new chief science advisor.
A highly experienced agricultural scientist with specialist knowledge of the dairy sector is the Prime Minister's new Chief Science Advisor.
A group of meat processing companies, directors and managers have been fined a total of $1.6 million for deliberately and illegally altering exported tallow for profit.
Movement controls have been lifted from Mainland Poultry’s Hillgrove Farm in Otago, after the successful eradication of H7N6 strain of high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
Farmers appear to be backing the Government's recent Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms announcement.
For the first time, all the big names in agricultural drone technology are being brought together under one marquee at the National Fieldays.
Fonterra has announced an improved third quarter performance – with a profit after tax of $1.15 billion, up $119 million on the same period last year.
The Fieldays Innovation Awards competition has attracted a diverse and impressive array of innovations from across the primary industries, highlighting the growing importance of technology shaping the future of farming.
Coming to the fore following the carnage of Cyclone Gabrielle, Starlink became well known for providing internet access even in NZ's most inaccessible places.
From this winter farmers will have a greater choice of feed types and blend options than ever before, thanks to Farmlands' purchase of animal nutrition company SealesWinslow.
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