A true Kiwi ingenuity
The King Cobra raingun continues to have a huge following in the New Zealand market and is also exported to numerous overseas markets.
Dairy technology company Numedic Ltd has gained farm dairy effluent (FDE) design accreditation.
The accreditation programme provides a new way forward for effluent system design in New Zealand, says Cathryn Reid, a Numedic director. She has been a member of the design standards steering group since the initial development of the concept.
Its goal is to ensure all NZ dairy farmers have effluent systems that can meet dairy industry and wider community expectations for the land application of dairy effluent. This includes keeping all untreated effluent out of surface and groundwater, keeping land-applied effluent nutrients in the root zone to capture their nutrient and economic value, and ensuring all systems are compliant 365 days a year.
Accredited organisations have had their design skills and workplace systems assessed by an independent panel and have met the accreditation standard.
Companies have been assessed for their competency and skills in regulation and legislation, soils and climate, effluent block allocation, pond storage calculations, hydraulic design and quality assurance management systems.
Says Reid, "We had always planned to complete the accreditation, as we see it having benefits for our customers and dealers.
Speculation of a possible joint move by Fonterra and a2 Milk to buy Synlait raises a much bigger strategic question, says agribusiness expert Dr Nic Lees.
I think it's going to greatly weaken National at the election. That's the view of a former senior National MP on the recent attempted coup against Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Despite political shenanigans in Wellington, farmers are confident that Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms will get over the line in this term of Parliament.
New Zealand's pest problem has reached crisis point, according to Federated Farmers' second National Pests Survey, which shows farmers are spending more money and effort on control — yet pest numbers keep climbing faster than they were two years ago.
Testing confirms H5 bird flu in a single northern giant petrel, found dead on a remote Cape Palliser beach in the Wairarapa, says Dr Mary van Andel, the Ministry for Primary Industries' (MPI) Chief Veterinary Officer.
"What's for dinner?" may sound like a simple question, but for many Kiwi parents, answering it has become a job in itself.
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