OSPRI Reduces TB Testing and Lifts Movement Controls in Key Regions
Ospri is reducing TB testing frequencies and movement control measures as the disease risk subsidies in parts of the country.
Agribusiness leader Barry Harris has been appointedchairman of OSPRI, the primary industry organisation responsible for managingthe TBfree and NAIT programmes.
Barry succeeds Jeff Grant, who has stepped down having been appointed by Beef + Lamb New Zealand and the Meat Industry Association to help manage the red meat sector's response to Brexit in London.
Harris says he is delighted and honoured to be taking on the chair of OSPRI.
“I am excited about the future of the company. OSPRI has an important role to play in helping deliver both the TBfree and NAIT programmes and I’m strongly committed to working with shareholders and other key stakeholders to ensure OSPRI is a success.’
‘On behalf of the OSPRI management and other board members I’d like to wish Jeff the best of luck in the UK in his new role and thank him for his significant contribution that he has made to OSPRI and the wider beef, dairy and deer industry during his time as OSPRI Chair.’
Harris has a long association with agriculture and particularly the dairy sector serving as a senior executive with Fonterra and as a long standing board member of DairyNZ. Barry is currently chair of McFall Fuel, Food Innovation Waikato and Wintec; and director of DairyNZ and WEL Networks.
Barry has a Master of Agricultural Science (Honours) and lives in Hamilton.
The OSPRI Board expressed their gratitude to Grant, who has successfully led the organisation through major changes, particularly the new TBfree strategy.
New Zealand's diverse cheesemaking talent shone brightly last night as the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) crowned the champions of the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards.
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With the forage maize harvest started in Northland and the Waikato, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) is telling growers of later crops, or those further south, to start checking their maize crop maturity about three weeks prior to when they think they will start silage harvesting.
Irrigation NZ is warning that the government's Resource Management Act (RMA) reform risks falling short of its objectives unless water use for food production and water storage infrastructure are clearly recognised in the goals at the top of the new system.
More than five million trays, or 18,000 tonnes, of Zespri’s RubyRed Kiwifruit will soon be available for consumers across 16 markets this season.

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