Wednesday, 10 July 2024 11:55

100-year-old milk powder

Written by  Milking It

OPINION: A 100-year-old sample of milk powder from Ernest Shackletons’ first solo expedition to Antarctica has been analysed by scientists.

It came from a Fresian cow, and it was either Spring or Autumn was it was milked way back in the early 1900s and was made at a milk plant in Bunnythorpe.

According to Radio NZ, Fonterra Research and Development Centre lead investigator and principal research scientist Dr Skelte Anema told its Nights programme it had been an exciting time for his team.

“It takes a lot to get a scientist excited but once we heard this powder existed, we were absolutely thrilled... it was the fact that it was 100 years old, it was made in New Zealand... it was made only about 20km down the road from where we are in Bunnythorpe.

But how did New Zealand made milk powder end up with Shackelton in the first place?

New Zealand company Glaxo donated about 450kg of milk powder (enough for 3500 litres of milk), some butter and cheese for the expedition.

More like this

Free speech

OPINION: The Free Speech Union is taking this one too far.

Drug survey

OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is growing and making up a disproportionate share of nonnegative workplace drug test results.

Genuine Hipkins

OPINION: At the recent NZ Dairy Industry Awards, opposition leader Chris Hipkins made a surprise appearance.

Unserious greens

OPINION: The Greens aren't serious people when it comes to the economy, so let's not spend too much on their fiscal fantasies.

Science fiction

OPINION: Last week's announcement of Prime Minister’s new Science and Technology Advisory Council hasn’t gone down too well in the science community.

Featured

LIC Space folds for good

Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.

Editorial: Time for common sense

OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).

National

DairyNZ Farmers Forum underway

Over 300 farmers and rural professionals have gathered in Hamilton for the first DairyNZ Farmers Forum for this year.

Machinery & Products

Shearing legend hooked on CanAm

Sir David Fagan, world-renowned competitive sheep shearer with 642 shearing titles worldwide and a knighthood to his name, now runs…

50 years of tractor pull

This year, the Fieldays Tractor Pull, in association with PTS Logistics, mark a major milestone – 50 years of crowd-thrilling…

The Wrangler's birthday bash

It's the Wrangler Limited’s 30th birthday and to celebrate the milestone a prototype of the E Series Wrangler - a…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Free speech

OPINION: The Free Speech Union is taking this one too far.

Drug survey

OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter