Diplomatic Incident
OPINION: Your old mate hears an international incident is threatening to blow up the long-standing Anzac alliance as Kiwis and Aussies argue over who wants new Australian resident and former NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Meantime, speaking of actual animal welfare issues... the Hound was tickled by the name of a new drug recently released in Australia that aims to relieve the pain lambs suffer during castration and tail docking.
The cheekily named NumNuts – developed by Meat & Livestock Australia and Scottish engineering firm 4cDesign – have a single action handheld ring activator and injection mechanism to administer a local anaesthetic – lignocaine, as used by dentists. In trials the product was seen to reduce pain behaviour such as tucked-up posture, bleating and lying down. The anaesthetic acts in 30-60 seconds of injection and remains active for about four hours by which time the tissue in the testes and tail is dead, eliminating residual pain.
Farmgate lamb prices are down by 8%, beef cattle by 4.5% and farm expenditure up by 4.2%.
Kiwifruit growers are watchful but remain optimistic as concerns around the potential effects of the El Niño weather pattern this season.
Almond hulls sourced from Australian orchards may have the potential to help New Zealand cows reduce emissions, boost milk yield and lower input costs.
Striking a balance between meeting the needs of industry to speed up approval time for products but on the other hand ensuring that risks are properly assessed.
Surprised, humbled and quite thrilled. That’s the reaction of James Allen, one of the founding partners and now chief executive of AgFirst, on being made a life member of the Institute of Rural Professionals.