Tasman champ first grand finalist
DEFENDING TASMAN champion, Reuben Carter, is the first Grand Finalist to be named for the 2014 ANZ Young Farmer Contest.
PRIMARY INDUSTRIES Minister Nathan Guy, launching the proposals, says the recent drought focused attention on the importance of water to the national economy.
Economic and environmental issues are interlinked, he says. “We can’t lose sight of one without the other. Most farmers are environmentalists and understand the need to improve our water quality. They want to leave the environment in a better state than they found it. Farmers recognise the importance of fresh water resources, they understand there will be costs and they have shown that and proven they want to work constructively.”
Guy says farmers have fenced waterways and voluntarily signed the sustainable dairy accord.
The task of improving water quality rests with everyone, he says. “What the primary sector needs is reasonable time-frames to adjust, good science and guidance on how to manage the limits, and new technologies to help make these water quality improvements.”
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.
Philip and Lyneyre Hooper of the Hoopman Family Trust have tonight been named the Taranaki Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.
New Zealand farming is riding a high, with strong prices, full feed covers and improving confidence lining up at the same time.
Manawatu Mayor Michael Ford says the district sees itself as the agribusiness capital of the lower North Island.

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