Editorial: Support, don't stifle farmers
OPINION: Ministry for Primary Industries' situation outlook for primary industries report (SOPI) makes impressive reading.
Biosecurity officials have reported the bizarre discovery of two massive ostrich eggs in the luggage of a passenger at Auckland airport.
A Ministry for Primary Industries quarantine inspector intercepted the undeclared eggs during a recent baggage search of a South African passport holder who had arrived from Melbourne.
The two whole eggs with yolk each weighed around 1.5kg. They were found loosely wrapped in newspaper.
The passenger was fined $400 and will face increased scrutiny by biosecurity officials if they make further flights to New Zealand, says operational support coordinator Steve Gay.
He says the eggs posed a high biosecurity risk to New Zealand.
"There was the chance they could be carrying avian diseases. And we can't write off the idea that the eggs were going to be used for breeding," he says.
"It beggars belief that the passenger could possibly forget to declare something so obvious in size and so risky for our primary sector and environment.
"Air passengers pass more than 30 signs asking them to declare or dispose risk items before they even speak to a quarantine inspector."
Labour's agriculture spokesperson Jo Luxton says while New Zealand needs more housing, sacrificing our best farmland to get there is not the answer.
Profitability issues facing arable farmers are the same across the world, says New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr.
Over 85% of Fonterra farmer suppliers will be eligible for customer funding up to $1,500 for solutions designed to drive on-farm efficiency gains and reduce emissions intensity.
Tighter beef and lamb production globally have worked to the advantage of NZ, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
Groundswell is ramping up its 'Quit Paris' campaign with signs going up all over the country.
Some farmers in the Nelson region are facing up to five years of hard work to repair their damaged properties caused by the recent devastating floods.
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