MPI defends cost of new biosecurity lab
The head of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) biosecurity operation, Stuart Anderson, has defended the cost and the need for a Plant Healht and Environment Laboratory (PHEL) being built in Auckland.
Door-to-door, local fruit and vegetable box deliveries can go ahead under Alert Level 4 restrictions.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) says door-to-door, local fruit and vegetable box deliveries can go ahead under COVID-19 Alert Level 4 restrictions.
However, COVID-19 anti-transmission measures must be in place.
The MBIE advisory follows a query from Horticulture NZ.
In a posting on its website, HortNZ says “MBIE has just advised HortNZ that door-to-door, local fruit and vegetable box deliveries can go ahead, but Covid-19 anti-transmission measures must be in place, such as the 2m distancing rule and deliveries being done without individual contact”.
Orders must be made by phone or online and paid for online, so there is no handling of cash. Orders must also be left at the door, so there is no physical contact: appropriate safe food handling and COVID-19 anti-transmission measures must be in place at all times.
MBIE has also pointed out that independent fruit and vegetable outlets must remain closed to the public.
New Zealand Young Farmers (NZYF) has launched a new initiative designed to make it easier for employers to support their young team members by covering their NZYF membership.
Sheep infant nutrition maker Blue River Dairy is hoping to use its success in China as a springboard into other markets in future.
Plentiful milk supplies from key producer countries are weighing down global dairy prices.
The recent windstorm that cut power to dairy farms across Southland for days has taught farmers one lesson – keep a generator handy on each farm.
The effects of the big windstorm of late October will be felt in lost production in coming weeks as repair crews work through the backlog of toppled irrigation pivots, says Culverden dairy farmer Fran Gunn.
With the current situation in the European farm machinery market being described as difficult at best, it’s perhaps no surprise that the upcoming AgriSIMA 2026 agricultural machinery exhibition, scheduled for February 2026 at Paris-Nord Villepinte, has been cancelled.

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