Editorial: Goodbye 2024
OPINION: In two weeks we'll bid farewell to 2024. Dubbed by some as the toughest season in a generation, many farmers would be happy to put the year behind them.
DairyNZ's online platform DairyBase is celebrating 20 years of helping farmers to better understand their farm system and performance and how to make positive changes.
The DairyBase team has been focused on supporting farmers by helping them identify opportunities to drive profit and draw comparisons against other farms. Their online platform allows them to better track their progress compared to their goals and see where they can make changes on farm.
At Fieldays the team will be ready to show how they can support farmers through the online platform, including where they may sit on regional benchmarking graphs.
Tokoroa dairy farmer George Moss has been providing his physical and financial data to DairyBase for every one of those 20 years.
"DairyBase data has been pivotal to our decision making and has driven strategy and subsequent direction of travel for our business," he says.
Also at the Fieldays, DairyNZ will have cutting edge innovations on site, as well as something for the kids and something to win. It is also urging farmers to come and see some of their popular innovations from the Reducing Sprains and Strains project which were co-designed with farmers. On site will be the Easy-Entry Calf Trailer Gate and Easy-Access Calf Pen Gate prototypes which are now being produced by Kea Trailers and Gallagher, respectively.
On Saturday 15 June, kids can meet dairy farmer and author Rachel Numan, who will be reading her Tractor Dave books on the site from 10am to 11am. There will be an opportunity for a lucky listener to win a set of the books at each of the three readings.
DairyNZ says it is also giving farmers the chance to win this Fieldays.
"At our stand you can go in the draw to win one of two eDNA kits, with a DairyNZ team member to support you every step of the way on-farm.
"If you sign up to DairyBase at Fieldays and complete the Level 1 questionnaire, you'll go in the draw to win a 20-year-old bottle of scotch whisky as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations."
You can visit the DairyNZ team in the Pavilion at site PC44.
New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) is sharing simple food safety tips for Kiwis to follow over the summer.
Beef produced from cattle from New Zealand's dairy sector could provide reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of up to 48, compared to the average for beef cattle, a new study by AgResearch has found.
The Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey found farmers' expectations for their own business operations had also improved, with the net reading on this measure lifting to +37% from +19% previously.
Confidence is flowing back into the farming sector on the back of higher dairy and meat prices, easing interest rates and a more farmer-friendly regulatory environment.
Ham has edged out lamb to become Kiwis’ top choice for their Christmas tables this year.
Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) has announced real estate company Bayleys will be the naming partner for its 2025 conference.
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