Welcome to Rural Trader's dairy farming section. You will find a wide variety of dairy related news items, interest articles and information here.
We're very much a community website, so please feel free to send through any news, articles and events to contribute@ruraltrader.co.nz
The 2011 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards is in business, with the renewed support of its major sponsors
Top dairy scientists from New Zealand and Australia are gathering in Canterbury this week at the 4th Australasian Dairy Science Symposium at Lincoln University, supported by DairyNZ and Dairy Australia
New Zealand dairy farmer-owned herd improvement company, Livestock Improvement (LIC) is offering a new PHD Studentship Programme to identify potential successors for key science roles within the company
After 35 years with LIC, Christchurch Herd Test Field Technician, Andrew Garrod says he has no plans to retire
The UK's Food Standards Agency is investigating claims that milk from the offspring of a cloned cow is on sale in British supermarkets, according to a statement released recently
Nominations are now open for the 2010 Fonterra Elections - including the prized board chairman position
DairyNZ is urging dairy farmers to exercise caution when using Palm Kernel Extract [PKE] to feed cows pre-calving because of a potential risk of milk fever as a result of its high phosphorus content
Farmer cooperative, Livestock Improvement, says the $11.2 million in funding it will receive along with its BoviQuest research partner Fonterra, as part of the Government’s PGP funding allocation, will enable the identification of genetic traits in dairy cows which will increase cow production and profitability
Industry-good body DairyNZ and Fonterra said yesterday the creation of a NZ$170 million research programme through the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) would help drive transformational change in the dairy industry
NZAEL (New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited) says results of tests carried out have confirmed the potential for some over-estimation of the breeding worth of top-ranked young bulls prior to progeny testing
Thank you for visiting 'The Cow Shed'. We are pleased to welcome dairy expert Fred Lunjevich to the Rural Trader team. Read here about Fred's background...
Organic farming - all it's cranked up to be?
There are a number of claims made about organic farming (and against conventional methods) that just aren't true
Isn't it odd that many people support their belief in organic food with notions that it somehow can avoid chemical inputs?
If you've been following the mythbusting to this point, you will have discovered that the truth about organic crops and pesticides is exactly the opposite of what many claim
To round off my rational assault on organic farming I will just add a few parting shots that will hopefully provide you with things to look our for in marketing and popular claims to reality
It has been and will be a few big weeks for Fonterra. This week, NZ's dairy giant announces its annual results and answers the question all Fonterra shareholders are asking – how much do I get?
Just when you thought they had learned their lessons we find they're at it again, this time, the sixth conviction in the past 8 years for irresponsible discharging of effluent
Dairy futures. Say that to the average person on the street and they think you're trying to con them into some dodgey financial scam
While I'm considered a “city slicker” my folks are very much cockies. So when the family convenes around holiday time the inevitable topic of conversation is always “the bloody dollar"
It appears that my call for farmers to invest in currency isn’t such a popular idea. In fact, such speculation is claimed to be the problem in the first place
So after what can only be described as a “challenging year”, farmers are getting to see some returns on their investment in Fonterra shares
It has been established that much of the cheddar sold on Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury shelves have originated from Ireland, Latvia and New Zealand. More than 40% in fact
Emissions trading. It's a fairly simple idea and a political hot potato for sure. Who would want to be Nick Smith at this time?
The idea of housing cattle and keeping them from harsh elements is not new, but the proposals put forward for the Canterbury farms has intensive farming as the major objective
As 2009 ticked over into 2010 not so long ago I wonder how many farmers were reminiscing of the good times had last year
Has the world gone mad? We've all heard someone say that before, maybe we've uttered that line ourselves
Sometimes it is worth the mental exercise to ask: what makes farming profitable? The amount of answers to this could literally number in the hundreds
We live in a golden age of farming – we know more about how to maximise yields from available land and ways in which we can make more money from land assets
It has been interesting to watch the reaction to Hong Kong listed company, Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings, signal its intentions to swallow up all 29 Crafar farms
I have met Andrew Ferrier a few times – usually at the end of an ice hockey game. He is no spring chicken, he would tell you that, but he certainly doesn’t back off when he laces up his skates
There are plenty of old school farmers around – my old man for one. If he ever used a computer I would get a mohawk and a tan and call myself Mr-T
A while back I wrote some fairly 'heretical' comments regarding organic farming. Perhaps I was a tad evangelical about it, but I think the organic movement needed the criticism that I saw as long overdue
Whatever Craig Norgate has turned his hand to he has made a success of it. As with any bold risk taker, Norgate has had his fair share of ups and downs; peaks and valleys
As a consumer, you have rights. And a good thing too because most if not all farmers would have encountered an unethical, dirty down right scumbag of an operator at one point in time
Close to 90% of Fonterra shareholders agreed that the way to increase the Co-Operative's pie is to allow trading among farmers
I'm not sure whether it's a media beat up or we Kiwis really do feel that our dairy farms can be owned by anyone EXCEPT foreigners
It's not often I agree with the Greens but in the recent furore I kinda do. Premature calving is a blight on our otherwise great dairy industry
Large-scale darying gives most Kiwis the heebies. We know this because the farm proposed for the Mackenzie Basin was opposed at every step
Investment in agriculture – farmers have been doing it and now it seems the government is onboard too - $85 million onboard
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Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Hamilton
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Peacegrove Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
Friday, 29 October 2010
Claudelands Event Centre, Hamilton
Friday, 18 February 2011
Solway Showgrounds, Masterton
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Gisborne
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Mayfield, New Zealand
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Ngongotaha
Brucefield Avenue, Ashburton
Clareville Complex, Carterton
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