Greenpeace a charity?
OPINION: Should Greenpeace be stripped of their charitable status? Farmers say yes.
Federated Farmers Gisborne/Wairoa president Charlie Reynolds says farmers are in need of emotional support after rain, wind and flooding hit the region this week.
He says that, just a year and a half after Cyclone Gabrielle hit, this week’s storm will be an emotional “trigger point” for many of the region’s farmers and growers.
“We’ve had reports of some farms who’ve just finished replacing the fences along waterways and stuff and they’ve all just disappeared again. You kind of think ‘God they’ve gone out, had to borrow the money and what do they do now?’,” Reynolds told Rural News.
“We won’t really know the full impact for at least three or four days until we can get access,” he says, adding that there are several roads which are still impassable.
“All in all, it’s just a bit of wait and see.”
Reynolds says the region is emotionally tired as it grapples with the deaths of three fishermen who went missing on Monday, “at the same time as we’re getting our teeth kicked in by Mother Nature”.
“The support for the emotional side is really the key and knowing that people and friends are there.
“There will be a time where we’ll say, ‘we do need support in this area and we do need support in that area’… but we don’t want to go out and say, ‘we need this’ now, it’s just far too early.”
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
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