Meagan Littlejohn: Sustainability essential for New Zealand wine exports
Sustainability is no longer a "nice to have", says Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Programme Manager Meagan Littlejohn.
The end of winter means Dung Beetle Innovations' (DBI) rearing facilities are coming to life.
Stock will be in anything but short supply as DBI beetles become available in either whole farm packages or as individual colonies in farm starter or lifestyle packages.
The beetles are so popular; DBI are expanding their rearing facilities. By the end of 2016, they will have expanded into a further 1000 square meter hothouse facility utilising more than 175 bins.
Dr Shaun A. Forgie, co-founder of DBI, says, "The process of dung recycling is part of an age-old natural process that livestock animals and dung beetles co-evolved together in. You import the livestock and not the beetles and the natural cycle is broken resulting in an accumulation of un-utilised dung sitting around on the pasture surface,"
"The rapid burial of fresh dung will help alleviate many issues stemming from current intensive farming practices including water quality." he says.
Forgie also adds that we cannot rely on our own native dung beetle fauna as they are specific to our native habitat, not pastoral ones.
"Dung beetles are a cost effective, low maintenance, option in significantly helping long term sustainability of livestock farming." says Forgie.
Once established, dung beetles are self-sustaining and their population will sit proportional to the dung available.
"They will help save the farmer dollars with a reduced reliance on solid fertilizer inputs and drenches over the long term, with dung beetles playing an important and significant role in adding nutrient rich dung into the soil horizon and reducing survivorship and reinfection rates of parasitic gut nematodes."
Relationships are key to opening new trading opportunities and dealing with some of the rules that countries impose that impede the free flow of trade.
Dawn Meats chief executive Niall Browne says their joint venture with Alliance Group will create “a dynamic industry competitor”.
Tributes have flowed following the death of former Prime Minister and political and business leader, Jim Bolger. He was 90.
A drop in methane targets announced by the Government this month has pleased farmers but there are concerns that without cross-party support, the targets would change once a Labour-led Government is voted into office.
Farmer shareholders of meat processor Alliance have voted in favour of a proposed $270 million joint venture investment by Irish company, Dawn Meats.
The former chair of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and farmer, Doug Leeder, says rural communities' biggest fear right now is the lack of long-term certainty over environmental regulations.
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