Watermetrics appoints new sales engineer
Water data service provider Watermetrics has appointed Lee Hart as its sales engineer for lower Southland.
ANOTHER RAFT of Government proposals to reform fresh water management is likely to find favour with the farming sector.
Environment Minister Amy Adams and Primary Industry Minister Nathan Guy last week launched a discussion document intended to further change the way fresh water is managed. Top priority is for regional councils to do more and do it better. And it sets ‘compulsory’ national values and outcomes which regional councils must incorporate in their plans.
The compulsory values relate to ecosystems and human health. Also addressed are food security, irrigation, stock water and economic and community development. It sets out national minimum standards for water bodies. Maori values also assume a high priority. And it requires councils to use a collaborative model when producing their plans.
The Government proposes regional councils be required to do ‘water accounting’, i.e. account for all water takes and sources of contamination to ensure better local decision making.
Adams says in the past New Zealand has lacked sophistication in its use and management of fresh water. Decisions have been made with insufficient information.
The proposed reforms provide that some core key scientific data be supplied to councils to help avoid prolonged legal battles.
“In a country of 4.5 million people it makes no sense to be battling over the limited number of experts we have in this area. All we see is the same battles over the same issues of science and economics fought time and time again, plan by plan, consent by consent across the country – which to most of us seems an enormous waste of resources.
“This framework is to get consistency on the numerics, the framework and the application. This package is to give communities a collaborative approach whereby they get in and sort the stuff up-front rather than at the end.”
The intention is a collaborative, rather than an adversarial, approach.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…
OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…