IRRIGATIONNZ SAYS initial reports suggest more than 800 irrigators across Canterbury are severely damaged and will need to be repaired or written off following Tuesday's big wind.

TAKING EARLY silage this spring may help avoid a costly long-term loss of pasture quality, say rural professionals, as pasture covers nationwide reach unseasonably high levels.

BE SURE you will have to part with cash if you get a letter from the council headed ‘Infringement notice issued under s343C of the Resource Management Act 1991’. But fear not, things could be a lot worse.

A FARM investment scheme aimed at getting more young farmers owning farms, and delivering regular cash returns to investors, launches this month.

THE FARM is not large: 91ha near Opiki, north of Shannon. It’s excellent dairy country and a potato growing area. The farm is owned by John Seymour and is beautifully set up. Milking is through a modern herringbone shed and the tanker turnaround area is neatly landscaped. The farm’s utility sheds are new and modern.

EVERYBODY NEEDS a plan for foot and mouth disease (FMD), says Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) bull farm veterinarian Ken Cottier. 

FARMERS ARE urged to vaccinate their young stock earlier against Leptospirosis to better protect themselves, their staff and their animals from the disease.

Fonterra's second farming hub in China will be located at Ying County, Shanxi Province and  it is looking to secure strategic partners in the development.

FONTERRA’S RECENT botulism scare has not dented customer confidence, says chairman John Wilson.

WELCOME TO the first of a monthly column I will write in Rural News to update readers on news and views of rural contractors and Rural Contractors New Zealand (RCNZ).