Farmers hail changes to Resource Management Act
Changes to resource management laws announced last week will spare thousands of farmers from needing an unnecessary resource consent just to keep farming.
 Cady Burns (right) was presented with the Waikato Regional Council Prize in Water Science for 2024 by Council chair Pamela Storey (left) at a full council meeting last week.
		  	
		  
		  		  
		  Cady Burns (right) was presented with the Waikato Regional Council Prize in Water Science for 2024 by Council chair Pamela Storey (left) at a full council meeting last week.
		  
		  
		  
	  Third-year student Cady Burns has won the Waikato Regional Council Prize in Water Science for 2024.
Council chair Pamela Storey presented the prize to Burns at a full council meeting in Hamilton last week.
The award recognizes a University of Waikato student who shows outstanding ability in the water science papers taught in the university’s Faculty of Science and Engineering.
Storey says regional councillors hear community concerns about water quality frequently and share their aspirations for the Waikato region’s water quality.
“Water is one of our six strategic priorities,” she says. “We recognize that clean, healthy water is critical for the environment, our freshwater ecosystems and for community health and wellbeing.”
“For us, part of that recognition is encouraging the next generation of water scientists to come forward,” she adds.
Burns enrolled at the University of Waikato in 2022 to study freshwater ecosystems, looking at both quantity and quality.
She completes her undergraduate study this July and has set her sights on a master’s degree investigating climate impacts around lake systems.
Her research will focus closely on lakes that have affected communities during previous flood events, especially around hydrology and water quality.
She will apply modelling and projection methods to understand the lakes’ dynamics and aims to shed light on future impacts of the changing climate.
Burns has combined her study with work at The Wastewater Specialists.
Last year, she presented her research findings on the toxicity of different portaloo products at the Water New Zealand Conference. Her study evaluated the impact these types of products used in New Zealand have on the biological systems in wastewater treatment plants.
Cr Storey says Waikato Regional Council encourages more students to take up the challenge of studying water and other environmental science.
“I wish it wasn’t such a well-kept secret, but this organisation has a phenomenal team of environmental scientists who are critical for the work we do. We need more in the future.”
Acclaimed fruit grower Dean Astill never imagined he would have achieved so much in the years since being named the first Young Horticulturist of the Year, 20 years ago.
The Ashburton-based Carrfields Group continues to show commitment to future growth and in the agricultural sector with its latest investment, the recently acquired 'Spring Farm' adjacent to State Highway 1, Winslow, just south of Ashburton.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.

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