Award winner aims to put farmers in the clover
This year's Kate Sheppard Memorial Award recipient will support research to ultimately help New Zealand farmers choose forages for best production and drought resistance.
The days of losing dairy products in processing lines and waste streams may soon end.
Lincoln Agritech Ltd says technology it has devised to detect processing losses in dairy plants can save the industry millions of dollars a year and help keep pollutants from waterways.
Commercialised by CertusBio, Christchurch, the automated bio-sensor continuously monitors product lines.
The device, Milk-Guard, uses a lactose-specific enzyme to measure the percentage of dairy products present in waste streams and processing lines, sending the data to a process control room for human monitoring and changes if necessary.
CertusBio chief executive Matthew Jones said that due to the vast quantity of dairy products processed in New Zealand, large amounts of valuable products could be lost quickly.
“Dairy plant operators will be able to improve the resource and energy efficiency of their plant processes by reducing losses of valuable dairy products,” Jones says.
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.