Six Priorities to Unlock Growth
OPINION: Dairy farmers know better than anyone that change is constant.
A new calf trailer, from Mid Canterbury manufacturer Plucks, claims to improve calf welfare during transport, particularly with regards to injury and risk of infection.
Designed by Tasmanian dairy farmers with veterinary input and licensed for New Zealand manufacture, the Benic Calf Trailer is available in 10 or 15 calf capacities. The design takes the form of a sling and cradle system that works with an overhead track, all mounted on a low-level single axle trailer.
During collection, calves are fitted quickly with a webbing sling, that is lifted onto a roller track that allows the animal to be easily moved forward. Once on the trailer, calves are supported between a tubular steel cradle and a neck brace.
Compared to open cage type trailers, where calves can easily fall over and injure themselves, while trying to stand on unsteady legs, the specialised trailer holds animals securely in an upright position, where they ae kept clean and comfortable. Additionally, the format reduces the transmission of infection from the navel area, while also helping to reduce wind-chill by way of a substantial front headboard.
With a total mass of 525 and 700kgs respectively, the BCT 10 and BCT 15 units are easily towed by a suitable ATV or side by side vehicle, while the low loading height makes for easy, one-person operation, even for those who are vertically challenged.
Four years since it was first detected in New Zealand, researchers and growers now know much more about management of maize pest fall armyworm (FAW).
The Government has announced it will pause key parts of Waikato Plan Change 1 (PC1) in a decision that is set to give Waikato farmers a reprieve from new consenting and farm-planning requirements while the wider resource management system is overhauled.
OPINION: The time has come for the Government to back the organic sector.
Plan ahead and be patient. That’s the message to farmers and horticulturalists from the chairman of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association, Kent Weir.
The industry is crying out for graduates with agricultural related degrees.
While GPS and guidance have become the norm and yield mapping and variable application continues to gain traction, most agricultural machinery manufacturers continue to expand their technology offerings, amalgamating the vast amounts of data being collected to streamline real-time and ongoing management decisions.
OPINION: After hogging the media limelight for telling a NZ Chinese MP to "go back home", Winston Peters has decided…
OPINION: With fuel prices soaring, one would have expected most farmers to be reclaiming excise duty on petrol.