OSPRI writes off $17m over botched traceability system
Animal disease management agency OSPRI has written off nearly $17 million after a botched attempt to launch a new integrated animal disease management and traceability system.
Dairy farm owners are paying a lot more attention to what's happening on their farms – especially pasture – because of the low payout.
DairyNZ's general manager for extension, Andrew Reid, says farmers are appraising their pastures much more closely and in many instances are using technology to do this.
— And they are making sure their workers are following DairyNZ's 'pasture first' principles to maximise profitability.
"People now talk less about using supplements," Reid says.
"Farmers are conscious of how much pasture they are growing and are maximising the use of that pasture rather than buying in costly supplements. Many are using supplements as a supplements and not as a standard farming system," he told Dairy News.
DairyNZ staff are noticing that farmers are more focused than ever on pasture production. With good pasture growth in most regions, cow condition is good.
"Overall farmers are focused on next season rather than trying to extend the present season. A lot of farms are on once-a-day milking or at varying stages of drying off for the primary reason of going into winter with favourable pasture covers and cow condition. So the focus this May is on next season, not this season."
According to Reid, overall dairy farms around the country are in good shape.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will be fronting farmers at three large public meetings organised by Federated Farmers over the coming weeks.
Federated Farmers and a major Australian-owned bank are at loggerheads over emissions reduction targets set for New Zealand farmer clients.
More locally grown tomatoes are coming to stores this month and you can thank New Zealand greenhouses for that.
Changing skill demands and new job opportunities in the primary sector have prompted Massey University to create a new degree course and add a significant major into another in 2025.
It was bringing in a new Canterbury A&P Association (CAPA) show board, more in tune with the CAPA general committee, that has ensured that Christchurch will have a show this year, says CAPA general committee president Bryce Murray.
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