Thursday, 24 October 2024 11:25

Ospri donation for Rural Support Trust

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
OSPRI is throwing its support behind the Rural Support Trust. OSPRI is throwing its support behind the Rural Support Trust.

Disease management agency OSPRI is throwing its support behind the Rural Support Trust.

The Rural Support Trust offers one to one support to those struggling with the pressures of life on the farm. As such, they are a vital safety net in the rural community, and their team of local experienced people will be relied on as the sector confronts tough economic conditions.

To provide support when and where it is needed, resourcing is critical, and while partially funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Trust relies on additional charitable donations. Recognising this and valuing the Trust’s support around the impact of its disease management programmes, OSPRI recently committed to annual donations over the next three years.

"The impact of disease on farmers’ wellbeing is well documented, and we experience first-hand the stress that comes to bear on farming families when their livestock become infected with TB or M.bovis" says Helen Thoday, OSPRI’s North Island general manager for service delivery.

"So having a partner like The Rural Support Trust, often involving someone who’s been through it too, to help, is an important part of recovery".

As a not for profit itself, OSPRI understands just how important financial assurance is.

"We’ve worked with the Rural Support Trusts previously, providing funding to ensure they could meet community needs during the Hawkes Bay TB outbreak. When taking on the surveillance of M.bovis last year, we also continued the funding, started by MPI, to support those farmers impacted by the disease. So, it’s gratifying to make a commitment of ongoing donations to support farmers dealing with infected herds, or any personal difficulty really,” says Thoday.


Read More


Amanda Jordan, the chair of Taranaki Rural Support has also been a long-time defender of biosecurity and continues this work with one of OSPRI’s farmer committees. As a 5th generation jersey cow farmer, Amanda and her family have battled through plenty of challenges, and she still remembers the impact of TB - at one stage managing three of the seven herds infected in Taranaki. Between that experience and calling on the Trust herself, Amanda was determined to do more for her industry and talks warmly about a network of locals.

"We’ve an amazing coordinator, and an important part of her work is listening to the caller carefully, and then finding the right willing person in the community. If we’re concerned about welfare, we’ll find support quickly and close by, but often it’s about someone with the right experiences or background for a situation".

Fourteen Rural Support Trusts operate across regions throughout New Zealand, and then there is a national office providing coordination to ensure ground support remains widely accessible to those who need it.

"I’m hugely proud of each Trusts’ efforts, there’s real comfort in having someone to walk with you during tough times - so providing those rural connections is such an important part of it" says Maria Shanks, general manager of New Zealand Rural Support Trust.

"We’re lucky to have a collection of principle sponsors and partners and pleased to have OSPRI’s support as they also work amongst our communities.”

More like this

Help available for flood-hit farmers

The chair of the Otago Rural Support Trust, Tom Pinckney, says he believes that they will be especially busy in the coming months as the enormity of the floods hit home.

M. bovis plan on track

New Zealand's world-first Mycoplasma bovis eradication programme is making great strides but this isn't the time for complacency, says Ospri.

TB free again!

Herds in the West Coast settlement of Hari Hari are TB free after a four-year battle to get on top of the area's last outbreak.

Featured

New ag degrees at Massey

Changing skill demands and new job opportunities in the primary sector have prompted Massey University to create a new degree course and add a significant major into another in 2025.

The show is on!

It was bringing in a new Canterbury A&P Association (CAPA) show board, more in tune with the CAPA general committee, that has ensured that Christchurch will have a show this year, says CAPA general committee president Bryce Murray.

National

Food charity to hold online auction

Meat the Need, New Zealand’s dedicated charity delivering locally sourced protein meals to food-insecure communities, is launching an online National…

Machinery & Products

An ideal solution for larger farms

Designed specifically for large farms that want to drill with maximum flexibility, efficiency and power, the new Lemken Solitair ST…

Landpower increases its offering

Landpower and the Claas Harvest Centre network will launch the Claas Scorpion and Torion material handling solutions to the market…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Leaky waka

OPINION: Was the ASB Economic Weekly throwing shade on Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr when reporting on his speech in…

Know-it-alls

OPINION: A reader recently had a shot at the various armchair critics that she judged to be more than a…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter