Bikinis in cowshed
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.
The director-general of MPI has praised the dairy industry saying its performance in the past year has been tremendous.
Speaking to Dairy News from the Fieldays, Ray Smith noted the sector produced more milk per cow than it did previously and that was outstanding given that livestock numbers are down.
"Dairy has come through this amazingly well and you will see that growth continuing," he says.
Smith says the past 18 months have been challenging and stressful for everyone involved in the primary sector - both in government agencies and the private sector.
He says Covid has thrown up a whole new set of challenges especially around labour and logistics.
His main observation at Fieldays was that people were happy to get away from their day to day business and there was a good vibe amongst farmers and sector leaders.
"We gave a presentation on our programme - Fit for a Better World - and this was well attended and people came away happy that we as a sector had a plan to lift growth, sustainability and attract more NZers to work in the primary sector. Everyone was positive about the fact that we were working to lift all sectors and not trade anyone down," he says.
Smith says people realised that in these difficult times they were not alone.
Holstein Friesian excellence was front and centre at the 2025 Holstein Friesian NZ (HFNZ) Awards, held recently in Invercargill.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
This past week has seen another round of negotiations between India and New Zealand to produce a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
The Infrastructure Commission has endorsed a plan by Chorus to expand fibre broadband to 95% of New Zealand much to the delight of rural women.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its…
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content…