Fieldays’ sustainability credentials getting greener
The New Zealand National Fieldays Society has achieved a major sustainability milestone - reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and reaching the target five years early.
Concerns about Mycoplasma bovis don’t appear to have hit farmers’ enthusiasm for Fieldays.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor told Rural News on the first day of the event that he detected a very positive mood.
A total of 24,633 visited on day one to see the 1400 sites in this 50th year of the farming event now recognised as world-leading.
“For a start, the sky hasn’t fallen in with advent of the new government. I have been amazed at the number of people here,” O’Connor says. The better payout has helped and people are enjoying getting out to see what is always a better event because they try harder every year to improve things.”
Waikato farmer John Kneebone, a co-founder of the Fieldays Society, remarked to Rural News on the “amazing evolution” of Fieldays and said it never occurred to him in 1968 that it would become what it is today.
Farmers, exhibitors of equipment and services, and politicians of every hue have made Fieldays a must-attend on their ‘press-the-flesh’ calendar. – Peter Burke
New Zealand needs a new healthcare model to address rising rates of obesity in rural communities, with the current system leaving many patients unable to access effective treatment or long-term support, warn GPs.
Southland farmers are being urged to put safety first, following a spike in tip offs about risky handling of wind-damaged trees
Third-generation Ashburton dairy farmers TJ and Mark Stewart are no strangers to adapting and evolving.
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
Fonterra chair Peter McBride says the divestment of Mainland Group is their last significant asset sale and signals the end of structural changes.
Thirty years ago, as a young sharemilker, former Waikato farmer Snow Chubb realised he was bucking a trend when he started planting trees to provide shade for his cows, but he knew the animals would appreciate what he was doing.

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