Displaying items by tag: AgFirst

Wanted urgently - some sunny weather in the Waikato to help lift milk production.

We need sun urgently, according to central North Island AgFirst consultant Peter Livingston who says the exceptionally wet winter - especially around Rotorua which has seen 1,100mm of rain in the last three months - is starting to have an effect on milk production.

Despite the terribly wet weather, the Minister for Agriculture says farmers have done a good job managing winter grazing this year.

More rain could make for very challenging times for dairy farmers, according to AgFirst's James Allen.

A Hawke's Bay-based farm consultant reckons there will be a need for farm system changes next season in order for farmers to meet new winter grazing regulations.

Farm profitability should be healthy for 2021-22 and for the current season – but farmers will need to keep a close eye on input costs, says an AgFirst report for Waikato and Bay of Plenty dairy farms.

Farmers are getting overwhelmed by all the new regulations and compliance requirements they are facing now and in the future.

Peter Andrew, director of AgFirst in Gisborne, says farmers are starting to put things back together following the recent storm that caused massive slips on hill country farms and damaged crops on the flats.

Around the Hawke's Bay region, the grass in the paddocks is looking greener as it recovers from two bad seasons of drought.

New farming rules around sustainability are driving elderly farmers out of the dairy industry, says agri-economist Phil Journeaux.