Thursday, 04 October 2018 11:29

Soft border?

Written by 

A mate of the Hound who recently travelled to Ireland found that country’s airport biosecurity rather lax.

On the flight’s approach to Dublin came a request that passengers involved in agriculture should make themselves known to the Department of Agriculture. This old mutt’s honest mate, after passing the immigration check and collecting his bags, asked an Irish customs official who he should speak to about biosecurity. “What’s biosecurity? I’m looking after border security,” was the reply. Our Kiwi traveller said he was off a farm in NZ, with the potential for disease, etc. “Aw, that’ll be the Department of Agriculture you’ll be wantin’… over there to the right. But I don’t fancy your chances, there’s never anyone there.” Sure enough, no one there; he waited a few minutes but still no one appeared, so our traveller just wandered off.

More like this

Irish, NZ connection showcased

The Irish Minister of State for Rural Communities says his country and New Zealand face very similar challenges on a range of issues related to agriculture, including climate change, biodiversity and rural depopulation.

Greening up at Fieldays

In the rural landscapes of New Zealand and Ireland, a shared agricultural heritage thrives, built on a strong mixture of tradition and innovation, with mirror image climates earning both countries global acclaim for their food quality and sustainable agriculture.

Irish show how it's done

MPI director general Ray Smith reckons NZ has a lot to learn from the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority – called Teagasc (pronounced ‘Chog us’).

Featured

Sharemilkers Credit DairyBase Tool for Staffing Decisions

Signing up to a benchmarking tool is not about competition, but about improving collectively, says Ximena Puig and Alvaro Luzardo who are 50-50 sharemilkers at a 164-hectare (effective) dairy farm in Eketāhuna in the Lower North Island.

National

Machinery & Products

 

 

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any…

Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter