Are NZ farmers missing the trick on goat meat?
"Adding pastoral goats with suitable management is the production base to develop a niche in an existing market,” Garrick Batten claims.
With winter approaching, Taranaki hill country farmers must remember the importance of soil stabilisation measures like poplar poles, and take action accordingly.
"Now's the time to order poplar or willow poles, before winter sets in," says Don Shearman, land services manager for the Taranaki Regional Council, which assists with the cost of poles through its South Taranaki and Regional Erosion Support Scheme (STRESS).
"The storm and flood event in June last year was a graphic demonstration of just how vulnerable the eastern hillcountry can be to devastating landslips. Not only did they cause extensive damage to pasture and infrastructure, but they filled waterways with sediment and made the flooding worse," he says.
"People's memories can fade as time rolls by and new growth covers the scars and tension cracks on the hillsides. But it's important to take action to stabilise the land before the event. Soil stabilisation measures like poplar poles need a good eight to 10 years to be effective – and we can expect storms like last June's to occur more regularly."
STRESS, the council's erosion programme, has been running for five years. And with another $1.2 million recently approved by the Ministry of Primary Industries, it will continue for another four.
As well as grants for poplar poles, the scheme delivers grants for forestry establishment, fencing off retired land, and land use change.
Subject to criteria being met, financial assistance is available to farmers for forestry establishment, forestry fencing, manuka reversion, poplar or willow poles to reduce erosion and retirement fencing for steeper areas.
For more information, or to order poplar or willow poles, call the council on 0800 736 222 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…
OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…