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: A Waikato dairy farm is getting behind a new initiative to help cafes and the dairy sector cut down on the use of single-use milk bottles by the thousands each year.
The Udder Way is a twoyear- old Australian company selling 18-litre milk kegs for baristas to reduce their plastic milk bottle use by up to an estimated 10,000 per cafe each year.
The Tasmania-based business claims it has eliminated 1.6 million milk bottles from waste by connecting its kegs up to milk dispensers or taps at Australian hospitality outlets.
In its first New Zealand play, The Udder Way kegs are now being filled with organic and non-organic milk by boutique dairy company Green Valley Dairies from its Mangatāwhiri factory in North Waikato.
A big win for the dairy industry, hospitality sector and the environment.
Profitability issues facing arable farmers are the same across the world, says New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr.
Over 85% of Fonterra farmer suppliers will be eligible for customer funding up to $1,500 for solutions designed to drive on-farm efficiency gains and reduce emissions intensity.
Tighter beef and lamb production globally have worked to the advantage of NZ, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
Groundswell is ramping up its 'Quit Paris' campaign with signs going up all over the country.
Some farmers in the Nelson region are facing up to five years of hard work to repair their damaged properties caused by the recent devastating floods.
Federated Farmers is joining major industry-good bodies in not advocating for the Government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.