DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ wrap up M. bovis compensation support after $161M in claims
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
The head of BiosecurityNZ (MPI’s group dealing with Mycoplasma bovis), Roger Smith, says its job is to make NAIT easy so that farmers will comply with it.
NAIT has been widely criticised, notably by Federated Farmers vice-president Andrew Hoggard, who says the system is clunky and doesn’t interface with his own database which contains all the information NAIT needs.
Smith says MPI will change this because if a regulation is too hard to comply with people may not comply.
“I understand that when a farmer comes in at 11pm after a hard day on the farm and must then sit down at a laptop and enter NAIT data this can be frustrating and probably not ideal.”
Time spent unnecessarily in an office typing in numbers affects productivity; a system is needed that works well for everyone, Smith says.
The first task is to act on the review of NAIT by getting a better system up and running in the short term; they also need to better educate farmers about the reasons for NAIT.
“Then we must step back and look at NAIT and what it might be like in the next five to ten years. The technology is changing: there are better internet connections and wand readers.
“We must look at technology solutions and make it easier.”
NAIT needs redesigning so that one set of data can shared across a number of systems, Smith says.
A steady stream of farmers visited MPI’s Fieldays site seeking information about M.bovis. They wanted to know more about the disease and were stepping up their efforts to improve their farm biosecurity.
“Our job is to help and advise them to run a biosecurity system that protects their farm.”
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.