Budget 'strengthens support for NZ food and fibre industry'
The Government says it is sharpening its focus and support for the food and fibre industry in Budget 2025.
Rural Communities Minister Mark Patterson, who farms at Lawrence in Otago, has personally been actively involved in assessing the situation in his region.
For several days he embedded himself in the Clutha Emergency Management bunker and later visited farms and towns in the region to see the situation for himself. He says he visited the small settlement of Toko Mouth where the Tokomairaro River comes out and the Catlins and settlements around the Puerua River.
“The event in Otago was quite coastal in terms of impact and in some cases there was up to a metre and half of water on some farms. In many cases it was the tributaries of the larger rivers that came up fast,” he told Dairy News.
Patterson says his own farm at Lawrence did not get too badly hit by the floods. He says one of the positives to come out was the early warning of the impending heavy rain that allowed farmers to move their stock to safer ground.
“Driving around the district, I didn’t see too many stock in floodwaters,” he says.
In the meantime, Patterson says he’ll continue to monitor the situation and will await the MPI report to see what further assistance is needed from government in Otago and Southland.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
If there was a silver lining in the tragedy that was Cyclone Gabrielle, for New Zealand Young Grower of the Year, Grace Fulford, it was the tremendous sense of community and seeing first-hand what good leadership looks like.
New research could help farmers prepare for a future where summer rainfall is increasingly unpredictable and where drought risk is rising, no matter what.
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