Mark Hooper Joins NZPork Board as Independent Director
Rural leader Mark Hooper has been appointed as an independent director to the NZPork board, bringing extensive farming, governance and advocacy experience to the role.
Farms along the northern edge of the South Island have suffered significant flood damage, says Federated Farmers Nelson president Stephen Todd.
He says flooded paddocks could take days or even weeks to clear.
He says farmers, particularly in the Rai Valley and Takaka, bore the brunt of the heavy rain. The area has dairy and sheep and beef farmers with some horticultural blocks.
Farmers who are lambing will be facing the biggest challenge, he says.
“Young lambs born in flooded paddocks are unlikely to make it,” he told Rural News.
“People are also cut off from blocks of land.”
Todd, a dairy farmer in Murchison, says farmers in his area fared better.
“We had lot of rain but the damage isn’t bad as it is further up north,” he says.
Farms across the upper North Island are trialling different pasture mixes as part of a research programme that aims to build greater resilience into farming systems.
Election years are always a concerning time for farmers, according to DairyNZ chair Tracy Brown.
The Ballance Farm Environment Awards are coming to the West Coast of the South Island.
Most dairy regions around the country have had a pretty good season so far says Tracy Brown.
Rural leader Mark Hooper has been appointed as an independent director to the NZPork board, bringing extensive farming, governance and advocacy experience to the role.

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