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Daily Joke

April 2007

Cattle can be handled safely
Cattle have a flight zone which is best avoided if you want to handle cattle safely.

Arty cows a hit in Italy
Mooo-velus, darling: 100 life-sized cows, each hand decorated by an artist, are grazing around Italy's fashion capital.

World losing fertile soil
Throughout history civilizations expanded as they sought new soil to feed their populations, then ultimately fell as they wore out or lost the dirt they depended upon. When that happened, people moved on to fertile new ground and formed new civilizations.

Prozac for dogs, almost
Depression and related disorders it seems are relatively widespread - even affecting animals. To combat this problem in dogs, Eli Lilly and Company, which is the maker of Prozac has created a product to lessen separation anxiety in dogs.

Gov't falling behind in climate change debate
The government and its officials are increasingly being left behind in the climate change debate says the NZ Forest Owners Association.

Man fined for importing seeds
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is pleased with the conviction handed down today in the Invercargill District Court to a Stewart Island man for the illegal importation of sowing seeds.

High dollar crucifying farmers
- no thanks to Labour
The New Zealand economy is at serious risk from the continued rise in the Kiwi dollar, said Keith Kelly, Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre Chairman.
And Bill English believes some blame can be laid at the door of the Labour Party.

Watch those contractors
Death and taxes, it is said, are the only certainties in life. If you're a farmer in New Zealand, it's almost certain you will end up paying tax on behalf of someone who has done work on your property.

Are mobile phones wiping out bees?
It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail.

Boost to Big Brother's arsenal
Big Brother has just had a boost to his arsenal of monitoring equipment with the demonstration of Earth observtion satellites which can help keep an eye on what farmers are doing, or not doing!

ATV rego, plate plan upsets
A wide ranging group of UK organisations have come together in a coalition to lobby against a Parliamentary Private Members Bill which seeks to force all off-road motorcycles and quad-bikes to be registered and carry number plates.

FF reps for Cairns Group meet
Federated Farmers' members will be represented during the Cairns Group farm leaders meeting of agricultural exporting countries in Pakistan next week.

Farm productivity measure meaningless
The use of farm productivity measures is meaningless and of no value whatsoever to farmers, according to farming business specialist Peter Floyd.

New mastitis detection technology in use in NZ
Waikato dairy farmer Brendon Mulgrew is one of the first farmers in the country to invest in a sophisticated mastitis detection technology. The new system continuously measures the quality of milk from every cow at every milking, for instant detection of cows that have mastitis.

Online calculators becoming popular
Online calculators are becoming more and more popular in New Zealand as increasing numbers of people become computer and internet literate. One such new calculator has been launched by Contact Energy and aims to help people calculate their households CO2 emissions.

Cattle like salt, too
Salt, which is made up of sodium and chlorine, plays an important nutritional role in the diet of cattle. Cattle like salt just like some people like salt. But in a herd of cattle, you'll likely find extremes on intake. Some eat a lot while others may seldom touch it.

Study finds high number of rams are gay
If your rams aren't marking many ewes this tupping season there could be a good reason for it ... especially if you notice that other rams are being marked instead! A study in the US has revealed that a high percentage of rams prefer same-sex partners.

Dairy Trust steps closer to dairy processing
The latest entrant into New Zealand's dairy industry took another step forward today by announcing is has agreed to acquire four locations for it's dairy initiative. As announced on 12 March Dairy Trust Limited will develop, own and manage several dairy plants around New Zealand.

OECD echoes forestry stance
The OECD's report on the country's environmental performance has echoed the forest industry's stance that carbon credits and liabilities should be owned by forest owners, not the government.

$34m for agriculture research
Investment of more than NZ$34 million in agricultural research has been announced through a partnership involving the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and three pastoral industry bodies.

AgResearch sells Tara Hills

GE brassica trial for South Island
If Crop and Food get their way there could be a GE field trial involving brassicas at Lincoln in the very near future. The aim of the trial is to assess agronomic performance of vegetables and forage brassicas over 10 years.

Animal health site adds features
The Morris Animal Foundation has redesigned its web site with more interactive features.

Demand rising for fuel alternatives
The demand for alternatives to petroleum-based fuels is steadily rising. Corn and soybeans - the dominant feedstocks for ethanol and biodiesel production in the US - grow well ibut what are the alternatives?

Wool holds key to heavy metals
A UK researcher has found that wool from sheep can be an indicator of the presence of heavy metals in the environment.

Chicken same price as mutton
The ban on all live poultry in UAE shops has forced retailers to import poultry, increasing the price of chicken to that of mutton.

Who wants to be a sheepfarmer?
Shepherds are in short supply the world over it would seem. In New Zealand there is less and less interest from young people in becoming a sheep farmer - that is not helped by the poor returns NZ sheep farmers are re