M.I.A.
OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury.
Farmers are being urged to have good plans in place for dealing with any major community outbreak of Covid-19 and, in particular, the omicron variant.
Will Halliday of Beef+Lamb NZ is part of a pan-primary sector group - which include DairyNZ, MPI, the deer and pork industries and Federated Farmers - that have been preparing advice for farmers to deal with this contingency.
All of these organisations have advice on their respective websites aimed at making it easy for those in the primary sector to plan for such an outbreak.
There are also copies of this information in vet clinics and rural supply stores.
"It's all about how to keep you and your farm safe from Covid and, if by chance, you or someone on your farm tests positive and has to go to hospital or into isolation, having a written and readily available plan to get through this period."
Halliday says it's a matter of having that plan in place before something happens. He says it's a case of having an arrangement with someone or a number of people who might be able to help and having a check list and detailed plan of what to do on the farm to keep it running.
Halliday says the last thing anyone wants to happen is for a farmer to get infected and for this to spread up the supply chain. He says this could cause major disruptions with transport and processing plants and put others in the community at risk.
"Animal welfare on farm is also a major issue," he adds.
Halliday says on the one hand many sheep and beef farmers have the advantage of livinf in isolated areas, but they still have to have interactions with contractors and others in the rural community. He says BLNZ recommends that farmers get vaccinated and adds that any staff from his organisation who are interacting with farmers are all fully vaccinated.
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
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