Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmers warned to monitor stock water wells
Sheep and beef farmers in Hawke's Bay are being urged to keep a close eye on the wells that supply water to their stock.
Progressive Meats Managing Director, Craig Hickson is the 2012 Allflex/Federated Farmers Agribusiness Person of the Year.
Scientis Doug Edmeades was named as the Ravensdown/Federated Farmers Agri Personality for 2012.
The winners were announced at a gala dinner in Auckland on Thursday night.
"We are pleased to have such high calibre award winners," says Bruce Wills, Federated Farmers president.
"Preceding our awards was the Vodafone Cream of the Crop; the only occasion I believe where all of agriculture's major award winners assemble under the same roof. It is a privilege to have so many exceptional farmers in the same room at the same time."
It was a big decision for judges Andrew Newman, Christine Fletcher and Waikato University's Professor Jacqueline Rowarth.
As Hickson is attending the LambEx conference in Australia, Beef+Lamb NZ chair, Mike Petersen, accepted the award on his behalf.
Hickson runs a mixed 1200 hectare sheep, deer and beef farm in Hawke's Bay and in addition to Progressive Meats, is a member of the Meat Board. He is also a director of Ovation New Zealand and a number of other meat companies.
Wills says Edmeades has worked closely with Federated Farmers as an expert witness and has emerged as a scientific advocate for sensible farming practices.
"Doug is a scientist who argues in the media for solutions and not problems making him a very popular choice," says Wills.
The sale of Fonterra’s global consumer and related businesses is expected to be completed within two months.
Fonterra is boosting its butter production capacity to meet growing demand.
For the most part, dairy farmers in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Tairawhiti and the Manawatu appear to have not been too badly affected by recent storms across the upper North Island.
South Island dairy production is up on last year despite an unusually wet, dull and stormy summer, says DairyNZ lower South Island regional manager Jared Stockman.
Following a side-by-side rolling into a gully, Safer Farms has issued a new Safety Alert.
Coming in at a year-end total at 3088 units, a rise of around 10% over the 2806 total for 2024, the signs are that the New Zealand farm machinery industry is turning the corner after a difficult couple of years.

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