Lower North Island farmers “cautiously optimistic” heading into winter – DairyNZ
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
DANNEVIRKE SHAREMILKERS Mark and Jaime Arnold were named the 2016 New Zealand Share Farmers of the Year. They took home $52,000 in cash and prizes at last night's national awards in Wellington.
The Arnolds are 50% sharemilking 500 cows for Mike and Sherynn Harold and Stuart and Sandra Cordell; their fifth season on the farm and a great relationship with the farm owners led the owners to partner them as they progressed from lower order to 50% sharemilking.
The Arnolds took a huge pay cut when they launched their dairy farming career eight years ago.
The former logging crew manager and teacher went on a single herd manager's salary when they stepped onto a dairy farm for the first time.
Share Farmer head judge and DairyNZ Senior Consulting Officer Abby Scott says the economic climate had meant the finalists had changed some of their management practices to ensure they better managed available resources.
"People were really focusing on growing grass and supplement within their farm boundary and making sure they utilised it. They were also more interested in profit per hectare rather than benchmarking milk production per cow. We also saw some really innovative ways in how people have reduced costs," Scott says.
"They were all very positive about the industry, about their business and their future equity growth. Their positivity rubbed off on you and was infectious. There's no doubt they're in the industry for the long haul."
Thomas Chatfield became the 2016 New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year and Nicholas Bailey was announced the 2016 New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year.
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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