increase font size
Craig Prichard.
Beyond Massey University’s cheeseboard at Fieldays was the objective of promoting sheep milking.
Associate professor Craig Prichard, a driving force in promoting the new industry, spent all his time at Fieldays handing out samples of an ever-popular smoothie made from sheep milk.
He says Massey is trying to get people used to sheep milk as a food.
“There is an historic gap in New Zealanders’ palette in respect of sheep milk,” Prichard told Rural News. “That’s why we have been doing a smoothie, which is a very popular food.”
And people were able to add their own flavours, which was popular.
Spring Sheep Dairy, which runs a big sheep milking farm in the central North Island, was also on the stand talking to farmers about setting up to milk sheep.
“Sheep dairy is no longer a novelty but we need to build supply now,” Prichard says. “While we have proven markets, NZ still has only 16 significant sheep milk farmers. This this is just a pimple on the side of the dairy industry and we need to ramp that up.”
He says chefs are excited about sheep milk and how it can be used as an ingredient for other dishes, hence the need to think of sheep milk beyond the cheese board.
NZers are good at eating cheese, but getting cheese into foods and developing it as an ingredient is also important, Prichard says.
The head of Massey University's School of Agriculture and the Environment, Professor Paul Kenyon, says the outlook for the primary sector is positive with record numbers of students enrolling for Massey's range of undergraduate courses in the primary sector.
The most successful catchment groups in NZ are those that have 'a source to sea' approach.
Expect greater collaboration between Massey University’s school of Agriculture and Environment and Ireland’s leading agriculture university, the University College of Dublin (UCD), in the future.
The quest to find innovative practical, scientific solutions to deal with water-related issues at a catchment level has been the theme of an important conference at Massey University last week.
As veterinary student numbers grow to help address New Zealand's national workforce shortge, Massey University's School of Veterinary Science is inviting more veterinary practices to partner in training the next generation of vets.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.
New Zealand farming is riding a high, with strong prices, full feed covers and improving confidence lining up at the same time.
Manawatu Mayor Michael Ford says the district sees itself as the agribusiness capital of the lower North Island.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is looking forward to connecting with farmers, rural professionals and community members at this year's Central District Field Days.
Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins has announced a reshuffle of the party's caucus portfolios.
OPINION: Election years are usually regarded as the silly season, but a mate of the Hound reckons 2026 is shaping…
OPINION: If farmers poured just a few litres of some pollutant into a stream, the Green Party and the wider…
