BVD Control Begins Long Before You See A Problem
Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) is sometimes viewed as a dairy industry issue, but the reality is that the disease can have serious consequences for beef breeding herds as well.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has lashed out at Auckland International Airport for failing to provide adequate space for MPI’s biosecurity operations.
O’Connor says redevelopment of biosecurity checking areas appears to be the last thing the airport is spending money on, despite its assurances to him early in his time as minister that it would do the work needed.
“Frankly I find that abhorrent. They have invested in every other area of airport development and spent hundreds of millions of dollars, yet the area of welcome where we first have to interact with many of the people visiting New Zealand is not up to standard,” he told Rural News.
“We want better systems of biosecurity checking and we have one x-ray machine in there at the moment. We want to put another one in, but we simply don’t have the room or space to do justice to either the biosecurity system or the people visiting NZ.”
O’Connor says the airport company obviously doesn’t see this as a high revenue area and that upgrading the biosecurity area is a low priority. He’s had “promises and promises” and says he’s a little tired of these and wants action.
The airport needs to speed up its development plans, O’Connor says. “The fact that they have left it until last is in my view outrageous.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) and Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed new training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices are struggling to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Synlait has swung to second-half profit as operations stabilise, but the dairy processor still posted a $75.4m annual loss.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.

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