Editorial: Happy days
OPINION: The year has started positively for New Zealand dairy farmers and things are likely to get better.
With the closure of saleyards under Alert 4, New Zealand’s virtual saleyard bidr says it will be an essential tool for the trading of livestock during lockdown.
MPI and MBIE have acknowledged the benefits of the online platform for the trading of livestock during the process of registering PGG Wrightson (“PGW”) as an essential service.
PGW – bidr is a wholly owned subsidiary of PGW – has agreed with MPI and MBIE to continue to support the accreditation of other livestock agencies during the COVID-19 lock down period to facilitate the essential trading of livestock.
Carrfields Livestock Limited has been accredited to the bidr platform.
Donald Baines, Carrfields’ general manager – livestock says the suspension of saleyard operations requires the industry to think laterally and the online auction platform will be an essential tool for the accredited companies to continue to market livestock to the wider industry.
In order to support farmers with essential livestock trades, stock agents who have been unable to complete bidr’s assessor accreditation process, due to the Level 4 COVID-19 restrictions, will be able to list livestock – with the acknowledgement that “the lot has not been assessed by a bidr accredited assessor.”
Agents will continue to stand behind their listings and represent their vendor in the transaction. When normal livestock trading conditions resume, agents will be required to participate in bidr’s assessor accreditation process.
Fonterra’s impending exit from the Australian dairy industry is a major event but the story doesn’t change too much for farmers.
Expect greater collaboration between Massey University’s school of Agriculture and Environment and Ireland’s leading agriculture university, the University College of Dublin (UCD), in the future.
A partnership between Torere Macadamias Ltd and the Riddet Institute aims to unlock value from macadamia nuts while growing the next generation of Māori agribusiness researchers.
A new partnership between Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) and NZAgbiz aims to make evidence-based calf rearing practices accessible to all farm teams.
Despite some trying circumstances recently, the cherry season looks set to emerge on top of things.
Changed logos on shirts otherwise it will be business as usual when Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses are expected to change hands next month.

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