M.I.A.
OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury.
New protocols have been set for meat processing plants as they now operate in Level 3 Alert.
There is very little change according to Meat Industry Association chief executive Simra Karapeeva, who says the main change allows for some flexibility over physical distancing on processing chains.
It has changed from two metres to one metre, but this applies only in exceptional circumstances with protective screens in place between staff.
But Rural News has been told that many companies will retain the protocols for Level 4 because they have been able to tweak these and are getting a reasonable level of throughput.
Karapeeva says the new protocols are effectively a minimum ‘guidance benchmark’, which processing companies must meet.
“But it is up to individual companies to decide how they implement this,” she says.
“What you will probably find that is companies that have been in Level 4 have made some small changes to their plants within that framework to reflect their own operating systems and the layout of their plants to try and increase capacity.
“As long as people stick to the minimum it’s up to them to provide anything over and above that and give confidence to their workers,” she says.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
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