Rogers appointed New Zealand Equine Trust chair
In a move designed to advance the field of equine science, the New Zealand Equine Trust has funded a 10-year chair position.
Massey University professor Velmurugu (Ravi) Ravindran has been awarded the New Zealand Society of Animal Production’s McMeekan Memorial Award, the country’s highest honour for a production animal scientist.
The award is given only to an outstanding individual or group worthy of the honour; it was last awarded in 2013.
Ravindran, from Massey’s Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, specialises in poultry nutrition, with emphasis on nutrient metabolism, feed enzymes, feed evaluation, amino acid availability, gut flora management and early nutrition in poultry.
Senior lecturer Dr Nicola Schreurs, who nominated professor Ravindran for the award, says his strong ties with the industry have allowed for rapid advances in technology.
“The progressiveness of the poultry industry is attributable to the work that Ravi has done.
“He is also widely acknowledged as a researcher who laid the foundations for much of the current understanding of feed enzyme technology. This is becoming more critical in the current context of sustainability – maximising the utilisation of available feed resources and lowering the environmental impact from animal production.”
The McMeekan Memorial Award honours Dr Harold McMeeken, a distinguished leader in animal production research and administration in NZ and worldwide.
He influenced NZ agricultural research and the development of Ruakura as a world renowned research centre.
Farmlands says that improved half-year results show that the co-op’s tight focus on supporting New Zealand’s farmers and growers is working.
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) says that discovery of a male Oriental fruit fly on Auckland’s North Shore is a cause for concern for growers.
Fonterra says its earnings for the 2025 financial year are anticipated to be in the upper half of its previously forecast earnings range of 40-60 cents per share.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is having another crack at increasing the fees of its chair and board members.
Livestock management tech company Nedap has launched Nedap New Zealand.
An innovative dairy effluent management system is being designed to help farmers improve on-farm effluent practices and reduce environmental impact.
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