Junket?
OPINION: The Hound notes that the Taxpayers’ Union recently revealed that the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) spent more than $125,000 for its presence at this year’s Mystery Creek Fieldays.
National Fieldays has launched ‘Fieldays Innovation Accelerator’ with its new sponsor Callaghan Innovation, aiming to “accelerate the rise of Kiwi inventions to the global stage”.
This is intended as a ‘stepping stone’ by which previous years’ exhibitors in the Innovation Centre can continue at Fieldays without the cost of a full exhibition site.
The ‘accelerator’ is a “logical evolution for Fieldays Innovation as the incubator and catalyst for agritech innovation,” says chief executive Jon Calder.
“Fieldays must continue to evolve and adapt…. In this way Fieldays is much more than a trade show. Our mission is to advance agriculture [by fostering] technology and innovation.”
Other Fieldays partners and sponsors include Vodafone, SODA Inc, Locus Research, James and Wells and Tru-Test.
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Dairy
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.