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June 2007

Appraisal announcement pleases farmers groups
New Zealand's two vocal farmer groups are pleased that Alliance Group and PPCS are looking at options to improve lamb prices to farmers.

Superbug sweeping through EU
Research by the British organic group the Soil Association reveals that the superbug MRSA is sweeping through the Netherlands and other European countries.

Co-ops to look at options
Alliance Group Ltd and PPCS Ltd have engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to undertake an appraisal of the two co-operatives' operations to evaluate potential options to improve livestock returns paid to the farmer suppliers of each company.

Sheep can be trained to eat the right thing
Whoever said sheep were stupid should think again. If you've had a big night out, drunk too much alcohol and had a terrible hangover do you decide to never go out drinking again?

No water dairy yard opened today
New Zealand's first experimental milking yard that does not use water for yard cleaning and turns cow effluent into fertiliser was opened near Whangarei today.

Is it time to buy a truck?
Sick of paying to have your livestock carted? Fed up with having to wait to have goods delivered? Neil Clarkson suggests that before you rush out and buy your own truck you weigh up the pros and cons.

Farmer leaders chat with supermarket bosses
Scotland's farming industry took a step toward better prices for its farmers yesterday at the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society annual show.

NZ biopharming future uncertain
A Lincoln University study says it is too early to forecast what economics benefits, if any, are to be gained from New Zealand establishing a commercial biopharming industry.

Suprising number of pets with fleas
A recent UK survey has suggested that up to 20% of the 10 million cats in the UK have fleas. The report points to cats as the main culprits for spreading flea infestations.

Farmer groups applaud PPCS move
The announcement by PPCS that it will team up with its rivals to market lamb into the US and Canada has been applauded by meat industry groups.

Program helps with nitrogen use, saves money
Researchers are successfully quantifying and predicting the nitrogen needs for growing crop, saving farmers money and reducing environmental impact.

PPCS moves to improve lamb marketing
PPCS is consolidating its North American lamb marketing into the New Zealand Lamb Group of Companies, a consortium of leading New Zealand meat exporters. PPCS Chairman Reese Hart said the company's decision to merge its existing USA marketing operations into the consortium will benefit New Zealand and PPCS.

'Interesting' talks on NZ UK sheep industry
"Interesting" was how NSA Chief Executive Peter Morris described the recent meeting of sheep industry leaders from New Zealand with National Sheep Association Chairman David Raine and himself.

Colour important to bumblebees
A bee's favourite colour can help it to find more food from the flowers in their environment, according to new research from Queen Mary, University of London.

Quebec cattle farmers to sue over BSE
Cattle farmers in Quebec have been given the green light in a $2-billion class-action lawsuit alleging negligence by the federal government during the mad cow crisis.

UK farmers want to talk turkey, or preferably lamb
Sheep farmers in the UK have had enough - they've been protesting about "cheap NZ lamb" and now believe it's time to talk turkey with the competition - the New Zealand sheepfarmer.

FF and NFU talking lamb
New Zealand groups interested in improving sheep meat returns to farmers have been making an effort to talk to their counterparts in the UK. The MIAG was in contact with the Chief Executive Officer of the National Farmers' Union several days ago and now Federated Farmers has started to initiate dialogue with NFU.

Scientist: More potatoes from less water
Everybody is talking about the negative effects of global warming. Scientists from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at University of Aarhus, in Denmark, are doing something about it.

Pay tax and feel better!
Want to light up the pleasure center in your brain? Just pay your taxes, and then give a little extra voluntarily to your local food bank.

All you ever wanted to know about balage
... and a bit more
Balage is an increasingly popular winter feed option. It's nutritious and most animals enjoy it, but there are risks.

Animal, plant, algae or mineral?
Nature is full of surprises. There are some algal species that can act both as "plants" and as "animals" at the same time.

Plastic can grow on trees
Scientists have discovered the most effective method yet to convert glucose, found in plants worldwide and nature's most abundant sugar, to HFM.

Plants soon able to communicate with farmers
Corn and potato crops may soon provide information to farmers about when they need water and how much should be delivered, thanks to a University of Colorado invention.

UK farmers keen to communicate
Any farmer worth his salt these days, who has access to the internet, will know of the predicament of UK sheep farmers. Their lamb prices are shockingly low with most farmers failing miserably in their quest to make a profit.

Meat company (PPCS) result unlikely to impress
PPCS, one of New Zealand's biggest meat companies, has announced it is unlikely to earn enough to keep its bankers happy.

NZ lamb bosses heading to UK
New Zealand lamb leaders are heading for Europe in a bid to resolve the lamb import row.

MIAG: Sales and marketing has to be consumer focussed
Until recent years our two large cooperative structures have done the fundamental job they were originally designed to do. That is procure, process and sell commodity lamb products around the world, particularly into the UK and Europe, on behalf of shareholder suppliers.

Chip to keep tabs on cattle
Cattle in Lucknow, India, will soon all have a unique identifier - a 70g micro-chip.

Bye bye electric fencing...
The days of dragging out electric fences, untaggling horrible orange tangles and getting RSI while winding up fences could soon be over. A virtual fence for livestock that allows better use of pasture, protects the environment and reduces labour, is being developed in Australia.