Bremworth launches $6M expansion of cyclone-damaged Napier plant
Listed carpet manufacturer, Bremworth is undertaking a $6 million expansion at its Napier plant more than two years after the site was heavily damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.
A major cost in getting farms back in operation is re-fencing, given the cost and availability of fence posts.
Coming to the rescue is a Marlborough company called 'RePost' which specialises in recycling posts.
It's the brainchild of Greg Coppell who runs a sheep and beef farm in Marlborough. For the past three years he's set up a company that recycles posts that get snapped off at the ground in local vineyards.
Rather than just throwing these away, Coppell removes any nails or fittings from the posts and turns them into perfectly good fence posts, which sell for about two thirds less than new posts.
He says he's had a call from the Hawke's Bay Regional Council to come to that district and recycle the posts from wrecked vineyards and orchards.
"Our system is mobile and so we may do this on site at the orchard, but the council has offered us some land where we can operate from," he says.
The initial work will be done in Hawke's Bay, but Coppell says they may also operate in the Gisborne district as well.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
OPINION: The phasing out of copper network from communications is understandable.
Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.
The New Zealand Fish & Game Council has announced a leadership change in an effort to provide strategic direction for the sector and support the implementation of proposed legislative changes.
AgFirst, New Zealand's largest independent agribusiness consultancy, is turning 30 - celebrating three decades of "trusted advice, practical solutions, and innovative thinking".