Fibre-based caps coming for Arla milk cartons
European dairy co-operative Arla Foods is eyeing a fibre-based cap for its milk cartons.
THE LIVESTOCK death toll from a blizzard in the American west is put at more than 20,000 head, but the disaster has gone barely noticed in a country focused on the government shutdown and the debt ceiling threat to its financial reputation.
The snowstorm buried eastern Wyoming, southern Montana, western South Dakota and northwest Nebraska in 50cm of snow and is being described as one of the worst disasters ever for cattlemen in the region.
Early estimates put the number of cattle killed in the region at 60,000-100,000 head.
South Dakota state veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven says total confirmed cattle deaths in his state are about 2000 head and he expects the final total will be 10,000-20,000 head.
“Everybody wants to know the number, but truthfully we don’t know,” Oedekoven told the Capital Journal newspaper in Pierre, the state capital. “We won’t know for some time.”
Snowdrifts covered fences and cattle were able to wander at will, making it harder to get a casualty count.
Oedekoven says the death toll was not uniform across western South Dakota and while some ranches lost 50% or more of their herds, others lost just a few animals. Losses in Nebraska were put at up to 3000 head.
North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp told the US Senate the cattlemen urgently need help because the livestock indemnity programme expired when the farm bill expired at the end of September and Farm Service Agency offices are closed because of the government shutdown.
Heitkamp says people mistakenly believe one cow is just like the next and can be replaced.
“The herds are the product of years and years of selective breeding, years and years of working to improve the quality of their herd and to meet different specifications in the market,” she told KFGO Radio in Fargo. “It’s not an exaggeration to say they’re more than cows. They contain an intellectual property component that is not easily replaced.”
A fund has been established by state livestock groups to help affected cattle producers.
“With the government shutdown and no farm bill in place, we need South Dakotans to help their neighbours,” Gov. Dennis Daugaard says. “Many concerned individuals are wondering how they can help, and this fund will provide a way.”
Heitkamp says it’s time for congress to do something.
“We have got to get the Congress back working for the American people, particularly for the hard hit farmers and ranchers of southwestern North Dakota and of west river South Dakota.”
The beef cattle industry ranks as the leading agricultural industry in South Dakota with about 17,000 ranchers and cattlemen producing 3.7 million head of cattle a year. – Alan Harman
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.