November 2010
Tauhoa School Calf Club Day, which incorporates calf, lamb and chicken judging, was held recently, raising more than $2000.
The event includes a section for indoor exhibits made by students, as well as pony rides and go-karts made by several senior students. Money raised will go towards a recent ICT upgrade for the school.
Federated Farmers is applauding the Government’s decision to abolish the gift duty tax.
Economics and commerce spokesperson Philip York says the decision will help ‘save our farms’ by smoothing farm succession.
FarmSafe NZ will launch an ATV Licence for farm users early next year. This licence will verify riders’ ability and skill to operate an ATV on New Zealand farms.
August 2010
Frustration at crippling costs and conflicting advice on compliance with the Resource Management Act has led to the formation of a rural ratepayers' action group, after a public meeting in Wellsford on July 19.
Image: From left, Brian Mason, Roger Farr, John Turner, Gordon Levet, Colin Smith, Neil Jones and Greg McCracken convened the meeting.
Coming up with a reason for unexplained stock losses can provide sheep and beef farmers with another weapon in their fight to increase on-farm profitability.
Veterinarians at Mangawhai, Wellsford and Maungaturoto have got together with the Humane Society to cut the price of de-sexing a cat.
July 2010
Next time you pop a packet of easy-cook rice into the microwave for a couple of minutes, spare a thought to Yoshimasa Sakurai who starts preparing rice for his evening meal several months before he needs it.
Image: Yoshi using the rice thresher.
When dairy farmer Stu Paterson bought his first herd several years ago, he used to tear strips off his rubber apron to make into stickers to identify cows requiring attention.
Ross Clayden was 16 when he discovered that he had inherited his father's gift of being able to find water.
Farmers will be subjected to levies under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from January 1, 2015.
The increasing costs involved in meeting Auckland Regional Council compliance rules and regulations is expected to create some heated debate at a meeting in Wellsford this month.
Some people collect stamps, while others prefer bottles or coins, but then there are farmers such as Brian Mason of Tomarata, who has a collection of tractors.
The Northland Sheep & Beef Council is running three "hands on" post-mortem workshops later this month with the theme 'Why is that old ewe a cull, and why did that lamb die?'.
This article from Duncan Cotterill discusses the increasingly tougher sentences being handed out by the Courts for errant dairy farming activities, and the measures farmers should take to avoid falling foul of their local council.
June 2010
Millbrook Station, Pakiri, the home of the Longuet-Higgins family, hosted its final field day as the Lower Northland monitor farm last month.
Image: Fiona and Alexander Longuet-Higgins.
The 478ha Millbrook Station, Pakiri, has been farmed by the Longuet-Higgins family for 60 years.
Sheep and beef farmers in north Rodney, fed up with rising on-farm coasts and diminishing returns, grilled Northern North Island Meat & Wool NZ director James Parson at Millbrook Station's recent farm field day.
Whether or not you believe in global warming, understanding how your farmland and forestry relates to the emissions trading scheme is well worth getting your head around, so attendees at a recent monitor farm field day were told.
Farmers will be flocking to Hamilton next week for the 2010 Fieldays, held at Mystery Creek from June 16-19.
If you are thinking of getting your cat de-sexed now's a good time to get the job done.
A Tomarata dairy farmer has come up with innovative stick-on patches which quickly identifies cows on medication or requiring treatment.
May 2010
While the dry summer has caused headaches to farmers, the hot conditions have resulted in some exceptional olive oils for Greg Scopas of Salumeria Fontana.
Image: Eric Sanders (left), and Greg Scopas, of Salumeria Fontana.
A small mob of nine dairy catted that turned up on a Kaiwaka property are yet to be claimed.
Applications to adopt a Kaimanawa horse from the annual muster this month will close on Saturday, May 15.
Police and local authorities are urging landowners to ensure their fences are secure after a number of complaints about wandering stock.
Millbrook Station, Pakiri, will host its final field day as a participant in the Lower North monitor farm programme, on Wednesday May 12.
Federated Farmers is urging more stringent education for the recreational use of all terrain vehicles (ATV).
April 2010
The Boler family farm at Wharehine was the venue for a lower north community field day last month.
A farmer roadshow will pull into Kaiwaka and Whangarei this month, to give farmers an opportunity to test-drive the latest releases of farm IT software and hardware.
Dairy farmer Neville Porteous, of Kaiwaka, is the new voice for dairy farmer shareholders of Livestock Improvement (LIC).
Kaiwaka beef farmer Marty Roest, 30, was runner-up to Whangarei's James Donaldson in the Northern Regional final of the National Bank Young Farmer contest held at Dargaville last month.
Northland farmers are being told not to expect any significant rainfall until late this month.
March 2010
As part of a new grass roots strategy, Federated Farmers has appointed a new field officer for the provinces of Northland, Auckland and Hauraki-Coromandel.
The wintering barn that dairy farmers Andre and Ria Hekkers built on their 82ha property at Wharehine has helped to mitigate the effects of the dry summer.
The Rural Support Trust Northland (RST) is sounding a note of caution to farmers about complacency following the rain that fell in some areas across the region last month.
With one in four farm employees not having written employment contracts, Federated Farmers believes farm employers have to tighten farm scale human resource policies.
Women in the dairy industry will be given tips and tools to take charge of their financial planning, during a workshop in Whangarei this month.
One downside of the drought has been longer fattening times for store lambs, but other than that, Kaiwaka farmer Robert Hastie has no complaints.
February 2010
Forestry landholders are reminded that from January 1 this year onwards, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) must be notified of any deforestation of more than two hectares of pre-1990 forest within 20 working days of starting work.
Search for in-depth property information in Rodney just got easier with the release of an interactive online GIS (Geographic Information Systems) viewer.
Waimate North farmer Michael Cook has been elected to the Livestock Improvement (LIC) Shareholder Council.
