increase font size
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Federated Farmers have restarted the national Feed Coordination Service to help farmers recovering from Cyclone Gabrielle.
The service is being operated by Federated Farmers, with funding support from MPI to assist farmers to source supplementary feed or grazing.
“Widespread flooding and winds from Cyclone Gabrielle have damaged pastures and crops, or swept away bales of feed,” Federated Farmers chief executive Terry Copeland says.
“It is a tough time for many farmers, especially those in Northland, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, and this is a practical way to provide support.
“The damage and destruction caused by Cyclone Gabrielle comes on the back of what has been a challenging, wet season for parts of the North Island.
“We know there are farmers across the country eager to provide any help they can.
“Having a national Feed Coordination Service has proved valuable in the past, including during the widespread drought in 2020 and the Canterbury floods in 2021, and we encourage farmers to use it.”
MPI said the service is up and running and ready to help.
“The unprecedented scale of these events means there is a need for coordinated support at national level to help match farmers with the supplementary feed or grazing they may need for their livestock,” MPI’s director of rural communities and farming support Nick Story says.
“MPI has staff in the regions helping with the cyclone response, but this is just another important and practical way we can support farmers to get back on their feet.
“It’s likely the worst flood-affected paddocks will be unusable for some time, so we expect demand for the service will increase further in the coming months.”
The national Feed Coordination Service helps match people with grazing or supplementary feed for sale to those who need it.
The service is also available to farmers in Otago and Southland experiencing extremely dry conditions.
Requests to list or seek grazing or feed can be made online or by phoning 0800 FARMING (0800 327 646).
Feed Coordination Service details:
Phone: 0800 FARMING (0800 327 646)
Or register online:
Grazing needed https://arcg.is/0eTPSK0
Grazing available https://arcg.is/OWneD
Feed needed https://arcg.is/11z9mz0
Feed available https://arcg.is/1azj0n
Federated Farmers meat and wool chair, Toby Williams says what the Government has effectively signed up for is a decade more of planting pine trees on productive land because that’s the only way for our country to achieve such a steep reduction.
With a record $10-plus/kgMS milk price almost locked in for this season, next season isn’t looking too shabby either.
Dean Smith has been in the role of CEO of Summerfruit NZ for about four months, having succeeded Kate Hellstrom at the end of September.
Just on two years ago Cyclone Gabrielle wreaked havoc in Hawke's Bay causing massive damage to NZ's largest apple growing region.
Horticulture Minister Nicola Grigg says she takes her hat off to all NZ growers for the hard yards they have put in over the last few years which have resulted in horticulture exports expected to reach the milestone of $8 billion this year.
Farmlands says that improved half-year results show that the co-op’s tight focus on supporting New Zealand’s farmers and growers is working.
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) says that discovery of a male Oriental fruit fly on Auckland’s North Shore is a cause for concern for growers.
Fonterra says its earnings for the 2025 financial year are anticipated to be in the upper half of its previously forecast earnings range of 40-60 cents per share.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is having another crack at increasing the fees of its chair and board members.
Livestock management tech company Nedap has launched Nedap New Zealand.
An innovative dairy effluent management system is being designed to help farmers improve on-farm effluent practices and reduce environmental impact.
OPINION: Ruth Richardson, architect of the 1991 ‘Mother of all Budgets’ and the economic reforms dubbed ‘Ruthanasia’, added her two…
OPINION: Why do vegans and others opposed to eating meat try to convince others that a plant based diet is…
