Regular monitoring of worm levels in lambs is essential
Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s wormwise programme manager Dr Ginny Dodunski offers advice on preweaning lamb management and factors to consider before giving a pre-weaning drench.
Afforestation continues to have a negative impact on rural communities, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ).
The statement comes after the release of the B+LNZ Stock Number Survey which showed farmers adapting to challenging circumstances including drought, processing delays and Covid-19.
The report, published this week, also highlights the extent of farmland being converted to forestry.
B+LNZ Economic Service chief economist Andrew Burtt says that while the increase in farm sales into forestry is yet to lead to a significant reduction in stock numbers, it can be expected to soon.
“There is usually a lag between farm sale and plantings, and planting is constrained by availability of seedlings and labour to plant them,” he says.
“After the original land has been planted, how livestock move through the system onto other farms before being sent to processing or directly to processing influences what statistics show. Much depends on the circumstances on individual farms.”
B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor says the extent of sheep and beef farmland being converted to forestry, along with the cumulative impact of a range of other policies on farm viability, is concerning.
“B+LNZ’s position remains that there needs to be specific limits on the amount of forestry that can be used to offset fossil fuel emissions in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS),” he says.
McIvor says New Zealand is the only country to allow 100% forestry offsetting, with other countries allowing approximately 10%.
“Without these limits all other policy changes, while helpful, will not solve the problem.
“As more farms are sold for forestry conversion, B+LNZ continues to call on the Government to take urgent action to stop the loss of productive farmland and the decimation of rural communities.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the relationship between New Zealand and the US will remain strong and enduring irrespective of changing administrations.
More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) says securing more China label registrations and developing its own nutritional manufacturing capability are high on its agenda.
Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.
As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.
The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.
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