It is technically autumn, but most of the country is still basking in summer. We are all feeling pretty pleased about that, but sheep and beef farmers’ grins are the widest reports Jon Morgan from the Dom Post. After three years of drought on the North Island’s east coast, its farmers are revelling in the greenness of their hills. And it’s the same all over – except for Northland, which is experiencing a drought for the first time in more than 10 years.

And even in Northland all is not lost. Farmers from further down the island are turning up at stock sales in Wellsford and Kaikohe to buy weaner steers at prices that will help lift sagging spirits. For dairy farmers, the joys of a green summer come mainly from less stress on their cows, although the slightly increased milk they are giving will mean a timely lift in profits in a high payout year. Fonterra reports milk flow is almost 2 per cent up on last year, despite the Northland drought, though a big contributor is the new South Island conversions.

(more…)

The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FOA) wants a global livestock tax to reduce the contribution their flatulence makes to greenhouse gas emissions reports Rural News.

The FAO says urgent investments, major agricultural research efforts and robust governance are required to ensure the world’s livestock sector responds to a growing demand for animal products and at the same time contributes to poverty reduction, food security, environmental sustainability and human health. “The sector is consuming a large share of the world’s resources and is contributing a significant portion of global greenhouse gases emissions,” the FAO’s State of Food and Agriculture report says.

(more…)

Landcorp Farming, the country’s biggest farmer, has produced a narrowed half-year loss helped by higher milk prices and cost control reports Stuff. The SOE today revealed a net operating loss of $6.3 million for the six months to December. That compares to a loss of $10.3m in the same period of the previous year.

Landcorp said higher milk prices boosted dairy income by 16 percent to $39.1m. This helped offset a 19 percent fall, largely thanks to the strong New Zealand dollar, to $33.9m in returns to meat producers. Landcorp said it had managed expenditure “rigorously” with total expenses falling 14 percent to $72.2m, although some purchasing had been delayed until the second-half given price trends for the likes of  fertiliser and fuel.

(more…)

Debt levels mean more farmers may have to sell land and leave the business, a rural valuer says, despite Fonterra announcing the second-highest payout in 10 years for dairy farmers. The number of farms sold in the Manawatu-Whanganui region fell almost 60 per cent in 2009, compared with the year before. There have been so few farm sales lately that valuers have found it difficult to put a value on some rural properties, and often need to use their experience to make judgment calls reports The Manawatu Standard.

Hobson and Associates senior member of the Property Institute of New Zealand (PINZ), Neil Hobson, said only four dairy farms had been sold in Manawatu, Rangitikei and Horowhenua in the past 10 months. There had also been four “significant” sheep and beef farms sold. “There are a number of buyers and sellers out there, but it is a matter of reaching prices that are acceptable to both parties and that are bankable for the purchaser and their financiers,” he said.

(more…)

New Zealand farmers and vets will be the first in the world to benefit from Simcro’s revolutionary new safety injector, Sekurus TM, which allows operators to administer one handed subcutaneous (under the skin) injections, keeping their hands clear of the injection site reports Scoop.

“The Sekurus injector has a radically different design. It features a patented ‘self-tenting’ needle guard and two-step mechanism that allows the operator to tent the animal’s skin and deliver the vaccine in a one-handed action. This means the other hand can be kept away from the injection site virtually eliminating the risk of accidental self-injection,” explains Simcro director and manager of research and development Rod Walker.

(more…)

After eight years searching, Kiwi scientists have finally made a discovery which will likely lead to a breakthrough in mitigating livestock gas emissions. One of the most vexing issues facing agriculture’s inclusion in an emissions trading scheme – and the cost to farmers – has been that to date few mitigation technologies are at hand reports Rural News.

However, the latest findings by a team of AgResearch scientists – funded by the Pastoral Greenhouse gas Research Consortium (PGgRSC) – are expected to lead to the development of tools that ease the emissions burden of farmed animals. They have successfully mapped the genetic information of one of the microbes found in the digestive tracts of ruminant animals responsible for methane production. This is expected to accelerate work altering methane generation through vaccinations or other pharmaceutical interventions.

(more…)

In the lead feature of the latest edition of the National Farming Review, currently being posted to Federation members, Fed Farmers has laid down the gauntlet to anti-1080 groups. “1080 works but the growing mythology about it doesn’t,” says Don Nicolson, President .

“The article in the summer edition of the National Farming Review was independently written by ecological journalist Dave Hansford. He makes it very clear that unless we want to kiss our economy and native fauna and flora goodbye, then 1080 is the tool to use. “Most importantly, he debunks the lies, half-truths and pseudo science used by 1080 opponents. It seems they are forced into making ever more outrageous claims, so by putting the facts forward, we have given our members the resources to counter with fact reports Scoop.

(more…)

They could be accused by farmers of overoptimism, but farming leaders remain upbeat about the future of red meat production, while warning that investment was needed in marketing and markets diversified. M&WNZ chief executive Scott Champion told a recent SFF sheep and beef forum in Gore the fundamentals for red meat remained strong, and the number of affluent customers who wanted to eat red meat was growing.

With the world’s population expected to hit eight billion by 2030, global food production needed to double, and Mr Champion said while NZ could not feed the world, it had to decide exactly for who it was going to produce food reports The ODT. The population in existing red meat markets was static or falling, so it was likely new consumers would be in China, Central Asia and Africa.

(more…)

In its annual NZ Agriculture in Focus report, the agribusiness bank says global demand for some agricultural commodities  such as dairy and sheepmeat  is increasing. General manager Ben Russell said that although global and domestic economic conditions seem to have turned a corner and were expected to gather momentum in 2010, the recovery remained fragile reports Stuff.

“While conditions have definitely been improving there remain a number of downside risks,” he said.”The NZ dollar remains high, inflicting serious head-winds on exporters, there are continuing tighter credit conditions and economic recovery remains subdued in key export markets, such as Japan and the United States.”

(more…)

The chairman of the country’s largest meat company is urging farmers to take a long-term view of their industry and reject one-off price inducements from companies wanting their stock. Silver Fern Farms chairman Eoin Garden said with prime lamb prices back sharply from last season, the obvious kneejerk reaction from farmers was to take the best price offered for their stock on the day.

But, he warned, that ignored the need for the sector to make long-term structural changes which could only come by farmers supporting companies which were taking a long-term view, reported Meat Daily.

(more…)