Farm Safety Improves Through 'Incremental Gain', Says Birkett
Improving health and safety is about incremental gain rather than a sudden decision, says Leeston farmer and Federated Farmers health and safety spokesman David Birkett.
Golden Bay farmer Wayne Langford has been elected new vice president of Federated Farmers.
He defeated Simon Davies in a secret ballot at Feds’ annual general meeting in Auckland today.
Langford, until recently the Feds dairy section chair, told Rural News that he was excited to take on the new role.
“It’s also great to see the democratic process in action at Federated Farmers,” he says.
“It gives us a clear mandate going forward.”
Langford replaces Karen Williams, who steps down today.
Williams chaired the AGM after Feds national president Andrew Hoggard caught Covid and pulled out of the Feds national conference and AGM.
Langford has been replaced as dairy section chair by Manawatu farmer Richard McIntyre.
Feds arable chair Colin Hurst and meat and wool chair William Beetham were re-elected for another 12 months.
Hoggard was also re-elected president for another 12 months.
Oamaru-based livestock handling specialist Te Pari has bought Combi Clamp, the New Zealand manufacturer of Combi Clamp manual sheep handlers.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has admitted that a scheme bringing workers from Pacific nations to work on orchards has become too hard to navigate but says changes are coming.
A new app designed in New Zealand aims to help sheep, beef and deer farmers capture, analyse and use body condition score data more effectively.
Canterbury farmer Andy Macfarlane has been appointed to the board of AgriZeroNZ, the public-private partnership designed to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reduction tools for New Zealand farmers.
For over 50 years Mel Ewers has been supporting the apple sector navigate through compliance and quality assurance issues.
The apple sector is enjoying a bumper harvest season.

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