Well-placed to weather conflicts
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
RAVENSDOWN WILL give $20,000 to Rural Support Trust Northland for emergency feed and the provision of counselling and advisory services.
The company will also provide a series of packages designed to support farmers as they recover from a storm which, according to Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy, has had an impact on about 80% of the primary sector in the region.
Ravensdown's Northland regional manager Mike Wilson says the $20,000 donation and the accompanying relief packages are vital, especially when the floods have come on the back of a significant drought earlier in the year.
"It has been a very hard year for the Northland rural community and, as a farmer-owned cooperative, we want to help them get back on their feet as quickly as possible," he says.
Dairy farmer Graham Beatty says the floods have been a "kick in the teeth" to the local community and to the farming sector. The one-year-old 44-bale rotary shed on his 350ha farm between Dargaville and Whangarei is knee-deep in water and his cows are currently calving on the surrounding hills to avoid the flooding.
"Everything has gone into survival mode," he says. "We're feeding out supplementary feed and hoping for the best."
Ravensdown farmers in the Northland region are being offered three relief packages to assist with feed and re-grassing options, and help with access to supplementary feed.
Wilson says the packages are designed to meet the immediate and medium term needs of those hit by the floods.
"We want to make sure we are able to provide effective support as quickly as possible."
Details of the packages will be available on the Ravensdown website and from Northland Ravensdown representatives.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
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