Cuddling cows
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its cows and instead charge visitors to cuddle them.
OPINION: The heat wave that hit Europe last week has forced a rethink among UK dairy farmers who normally graze their cows outdoors in summer.
There has been a drive to ensure that as much of the UK dairy herd as possible grazes outdoors in summer. But the industry is slowly waking up to the fact that being out on grass is not always a good thing, says Tom Chamberlain, a vet and farming consultant.
Chamberlain is working with farmers who are trialling the practice of bringing their cows indoors during the daytime. He says that cows start to suffer once the temperature goes above 20˚C.
"A cow in 25C hear feels like we would in 40˚C," says Ed Bailey at George Farm Vets in Wiltshire. "They are very sensitive to heat because of the fermentation tank inside their bodies - it constantly produces a lot of heat."
The heatwave also forced French farmers to install huge fans to keep their cows cool as temperatures touched 40 degrees.
Federated Farmers is joining major industry-good bodies in not advocating for the Government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its…
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content…