The real emergency
The nutters of the green world, aided and abetted by the lamestream media, are rewriting the English language for the worse.
AS Greenpeace launches its annual attack on dairying's use of palm kernel, drought is looming over key agricultural areas, threatening to put pressure on feed availability.
NIWA's latest National Climate Summary says it is extremely dry north of Taupo, with about half of normal spring rainfall, and also very dry in Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, and along the West Coast of the South Island.
The report coincides with Greenpeace's latest attack on palm kernel meal imports – often used by dairy farmers to prevent cows starving during droughts. NIWA's weather warning about dry conditions echoes what farmers are experiencing on farms in these regions.
"It was an extremely dry spring north of Taupo, with about half of normal spring rainfall observed in Taupo, parts of the Waikato, Coromandel, north Auckland and Northland," reports NIWA. "It was the driest spring on record for Matamata and Leigh. Spring rainfalls were also below normal (between 50 and 79 percent of spring normal) in Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, and much of the West Coast of the South Island."
In contrast, spring rainfalls were above normal in Southland, Otago and Canterbury, as well as in some locations between New Plymouth and Levin (with totals more than 120 percent of spring normal). Spring rainfall totals were generally close to seasonal normal elsewhere (between 80 and 119 percent of normal).
NIWA says stronger than normal southwest winds affected New Zealand during spring 2011, squeezed between higher than normal pressures over the Tasman Sea and lower pressures to the southeast of the country.
By the end of spring, significant soil moisture deficit (more than 110 mm of deficit) was observed in regions north of Taupo, also Hawkes Bay, Gisborne, Marlborough, and central Otago.
Mean temperatures in spring were above average (between 0.5°C and 1.2°C above spring average) in eastern Northland, Coromandel, and Bay of Plenty. Regions which experienced below average spring temperatures (between 0.5°C and 1.2°C below average) were around the Central Plateau, Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Wellington, and Canterbury. Elsewhere, for much of the country, temperatures were within 0.5°C of spring average. The nation-wide average temperature in spring was 11.9°C (0.2°C below the 1971–2000 spring average) using NIWA's seven-station temperature series which begins in 1909.
The climate of uncertainty and market fragmentation that currently characterises the global economy suggests that many of the European agricultural machinery manufacturers will be looking for new markets.
Dignitaries from all walks of life – the governor general, politicians past and present, Maoridom- including the Maori Queen, church leaders, the primary sector and family and friends packed Our Lady of Kapiti’s Catholic church in Paraparaumu on Thursday October 23 to pay tribute to former prime Minister, Jim Bolger who died last week.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Todd McClay is encouraging farmers, growers, and foresters not to take unnecessary risks, asking that they heed weather warnings today.
With nearly two million underutilised dairy calves born annually and the beef price outlook strong, New Zealand’s opportunity to build a scalable dairy-beef system is now.
Graduates of a newly-updated Agri-Women’s Development Trust (AWDT) course are taking more value than ever from the programme, with some even walking away calling themselves the “farm CFO”.
Meet the Need, a farmer-led charity, says food insecurity in New Zealand is dire, with one in four children now living in a household experiencing food insecurity, according to Ministry of Health data.
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