Prosecution initiated over piggery effluent discharges
Waikato Regional Council is taking Te Aroha piggery farm to court following an investigation into the discharge of effluent into a stream.
The 2016 annual Effluent Expo at Mystery Creek has been cancelled.
The Waikato Regional Council will instead run catchment-specific field days to promote good effluent management practices.
The council says it will take a fresh approach to helping farmers with effluent management next year, with more catchment field days for providing advice to smaller groups of farmers closer to home.
In recent years, the council has run the annual Effluent Expo at Mystery Creek, an event which has regularly attracted hundreds of farmers and dozens of exhibitors.
The council has decided not to hold an expo at Mystery Creek in 2016 given the dairy payout situation, and it believes its new approach will make things simpler for farmers.
“We feel we can better support farmers in the current economic climate by running effluent management field days in each catchment to help drive overall improvements in effluent systems,” says sustainable agriculture advisor Electra Kalaugher.
Meanwhile, the council also intends having a stand at the Grasslandz agriculture hub in Hamilton in January. “So we won’t be slowing up on offering effluent management advice to farmers even though we’re not going ahead with the Effluent Expo at Mystery Creek,” she says.
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.
World Veterinary Day falls on Saturday 27 April.
The Director General of MPI, Ray Smith says it's important for his department to celebrate the success of a whole range of groups and people around the country.
A small company which mobilised veterinarians around the country to deal with Mycoplasma bovis was one of the winners in this year's Biosecurity Awards, held at Parliament.
One of the country's top Māori sheep and beef farms is facing a five-year battle to get back to where it was before Cyclone Gabrielle struck just over 14 months ago.
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