Open Country opens butter plant
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
With the launch of its first wireless farm monitoring camera FMC-IP1, dairy automation company DeLaval now offers farmers the possibility of true real-time monitoring over their livestock and buildings from smartphones, tablets or computers.
By giving farmers the freedom to monitor without being on-site, activities such as calving can be monitored more efficiently, and alarms can be checked visually.
DeLaval product manager farm supply Eva Ramvall says in an industry where cow comfort and welfare are vital to productivity, the ability to efficiently monitor the herd, from wherever the farmer happens to be, is important in maintaining a well-functioning operation.
The Farm Monitoring Camera system has been specifically designed for ease of installation and to withstand the dirt and humidity of barns as well as outdoor weather conditions. It also provides a night vision function and sound, in addition to motion detection and a recording function. This makes it ideal for a wide range of monitoring tasks, from animal and property monitoring to checking grain driers during harvesting.
The camera will be made available during the coming twelve months in all its main markets, says DeLaval.
Federated Farmers says the Government’s latest investment in road resilience is a positive step toward protecting rural communities and freight routes from increasing severe weather events.
The stockfood storage capacity of J Swap Stockfoods continues to grow in the South Island with the opening of a new store that boosts its capacity in Christchurch and work starting on another store in Southland.
Fonterra has lifted and narrowed its full year forecast earnings range to 60-70 cents per share after a strong quarter, supported by robust milk production, strong shipment volumes and continued demand across its Ingredients and Foodservice businesses.
Fonterra has announced it will continue with the planned expansion of its organic business into the South Island.
New Zealand farmers have been told they all have amazing people on their farms and have been urged to be “that one person” that can make a huge difference to those going through tough times.
OPINION: For thousands of Southland farmers, this week would have tipped them into the non-compliant category when it comes to following regional freshwater plan rules. But the Government has stepped in to give them the clarity they deserve.