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May 2007

Dairy payout rise has implications
The substantial increase in forecast payout to New Zealand dairy farmers and the perception that world dairy commodity prices are set to remain high in the medium term have significant implications for NZ's dairy industry.

Warning over lamb imports
New Zealand lamb imports are hitting the British market, farmers' leaders said yesterday.

Ben & Jerry's battle against belching
Ice cream is made from milk amongst others. Milk comes from cows and cows produce a lot of carbon-dioxide and methane. Ben & Jerry's intend to reduce these greenhouse gasses by paying attention to the cow's feed.

The joy of sheepfarming in the UK
This is not the most exciting of times to be a sheepfarmer. The lambing season went relatively well, though there were reports of a larger than usual number of barren ewes and pre-natal problems ... but the major concern for all serious sheepfarmers remains the price.

Affco reports half year loss
Challenging lamb markets, due to pricing pressure, was just one of the reasons for Affco Holdings Ltd first half year operating deficit, which it reported today.

Cattle on linseed have enriched meat
Cows fed a diet rich in omega-3 produce enriched meat that has significant benefits for consumers, suggests new research from Kansas State University.

Enzymes to boost ethanol production
The production of ethanol in the US will likely exceed 9.5 billion gallons by the end of 2010.

Mid-year opportunities at Lincoln
Starting a degree or diploma course mid-year opens up a range of opportunities for anyone considering a change of career, re-training or simply starting out on the tertiary education trail.

MIAG launches website
The Meat Industry Action Group has launched their own website. The group hopes the website will help farmers keep up to date on their battle to improve the industry and boost lamb prices.

Sheep prices down, farmer costs up
Nevermind that sheep farmers are struggling to make ends meet - if you service the rural sector it's time to put your prices up anyway!

ID programme brings animated debate from deer farmers
Animated discussions were held at the NZ Deer Farmers' Assocaition annual meeting on the subject of national animal ID and electronic ID for cattle and deer.

Aussies ready for US beef competition
The Australian beef industry is confident it can withstand market pressures in the key Japanese and Korean markets as the gradual re-entry of US beef into the two countries gathers pace.

- Reprinted with permission from Straight Furrow

MIAG confident about meat industry future
28 May 2007 -- "The opportunity to fix our industry has never being better." This is the take home message from Meat Industry Action Group chairman Mark Crawford following a meeting with MIAG, the Meat Industry Reform Group and the board of PPCS, in Dunedin on Friday.

Skimmed milk cows on their way
Herds of cows producing skimmed milk could soon be roaming our pastures. Scientists in New Zealand have discovered that some cows have genes that give them a natural ability to produce skimmed milk and plan to use this information to breed herds of milkers producing only skimmed milk.

Glycerin being trialed for cattle
Biodiesel is in high demand and the byproduct of this alternative source of energy, glycerin, is being examined to determine its effectiveness as cattle feed.

New vaccine for Johne's Disease
Paratuberculosis, or Johnes Disease, is a disease in Norway which primarily affects goats. A researcher is presently looking at developing a new and better vaccine.

Scale of cropping in Argentina impresses
The average Kiwi farmer will be astounded by the scale of farming in Argentina. Argentina has had the fastest growing economy in Latin America over the past four years.

Growing sheep not ideal mothers
Scientists have demonstrated that adolescent female sheep that become pregnant before they have achieved their full growth may not be able to supply enough nourishment for their foetuses to develop without physical deficits.

The benefits of clean manure
Clean manure may sound like an oxymoron, but Dr Brent Auvermann is working with feedyard owners to help them get the most "spark" from it as a fuel source.

Irish giving away their lamb
Irish farmers did their best to highlight the decimation of their industry today by giving away lamb.

Ewe numbers take dive in NZ
Poor lamb prices and sheepmeat marketing is taking its toll on the producers in this industry, and some have had enough.

Watch for nitrate poisoning
Be aware of nitrate levels in new grass or risk poisoning stock, warns Dexcel.

Ballance lifts urea price
Over the past six months unprecedented worldwide demand for nitrogen fertilisers has been driving up the price of urea.

Fonterra forecasts payout lift to $5.53
Fonterra Co-operative Group is forecasting a payout of $5.53 per kg/MS for the 2007/08 season. The co-operative has also set its Fair Value Share price for the season at $6.79, an increase of 3.5 percent.

Emissions at faster rates than expected
Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels – the principal driver of climate change – have accelerated globally at a far greater rate than expected over recent years, according to a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Poor lamb prices killing Welsh sheep industry
The Welsh sheep industry is in a desperate way with fears for its long term viability.

Farmers ... before you sell your carbon credits ...
Farmers who adopt practices that store carbon in soil may be able to "sell" the stored carbon to buyers but before they do they need to be able to verify that changing soil management has increased the soil organic carbon in their fields.

Herd manager guilty of animal cruelty
The MAF Animal Welfare Investigation Team welcomed the sentencing handed down in the Balclutha District Court today to a herd manager for the ill-treatment of animals.

Lifestyle blocks boost property sales
A surge in lifestyle property prices dominated the latest month's rural property market statistics, the Real Estate Institute said on Friday.

Britain's lamb and beef industry on brink
Britain's beef and lamb industry could collapse if unsustainably low prices continue, according to National Farmers' Union President Peter Kendall.

Have a little more salt
Have a little more salt with your saltbush... or if you're a sheep you might like some barley to go with it. This combination might bring scientists one step closer to solving one of Australia's worst environmental problems - dryland salinity.

Burning could offset global warming
A biogeochemist has suggested that an excellent way to slow global warming could be to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by charring, or partially burning, trees, grasses or crop residues without the use of oxygen.

Cows and carbon
A steady-state forest is carbon neutral, which is in full contrast to a dairy cow, according to the New Zealand Forest Owners' Assocation.

Farmers keen to engage meat companies
Sheep farmers are keen to engage with meat companies about finding solutions to problems in the sheep meat industry, said Keith Kelly, chair of the Meat and Fibre industry group of Federated Farmers.

Hope for meat industry but no quick fix
While there is no immediate quick fix for the problems facing the meat industry there is some hope, according to Alliance Group Chief Executive Officer Grant Cuff.

Lamb prices to rise: market indicates
Market signals indicate that farmers can look forward to improved lamb prices next season, according to several meat industry leaders spoken to yesterday.

Lamb prices: the downward cycle
Several factors had brought about the poor lamb prices of this season and last and while some of these factors are still an issue there is now room to be optimistic, according to PPCS Chief executive officer Keith Cooper.

National Bank to help farmers get started
At a time when many would-be young farmers are struggling to get a foothold on their own land the National Bank has come up with an initiative to help.

Fed Farmers release Budget wish list
Farmers need the government to reduce spending, so targeting revenue collection and spending efficiency must be a key prerequisite for the 2007 Budget, said Don Nicolson, Vice President of Federated Farmers.

MAF told to wake up and smell the humus
Parties with vested interests in the fertiliser industry will be rubbing their hands together at MAF's draft options for tackling the crisis threatening sustainable farming, according to BioAgNZ.

Protozoa could be killing honey bees
Several studies suggest a protozoan, a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae, may be playing a role in the massive die-off of honeybees in the US.

Dairy confidence up, sheep down
The latest rural confidence survey reveals that New Zealand dairy farmers are confident whereas the nation's beef and sheep farmers are certainly not. This is not surprising given the commodity prices and forecasts for the coming season.

Industry action group disappointed by co-ops
Farmers interested in reforming the meat industry were disappointed by the attitude of Alliance Group and PPCS after they met with them in Dunedin on Friday.

Study reveals farm milk protective
Drinking farm milk can protect children against asthma and hayfever, according to a study of nearly 15,000 children published in the May issue of Clinical and Experimental Allergy.

Sheep farmers demand industry restructure
Hundreds of farmers, described as "crusaders of the lamb industry," arrived en-masse at the Federated Farmers AGM in Invercargill - all determined to see change in their industry.

Make the most of young grass
New Zealand has traditionally prided itself on our low-cost pastoral farming systems. Ongoing research into improving pasture species to support this system has seen a major improvement in pasture species.

Donald J Trumps steak market
The prices Donald J Trump is getting for his Trump Steaks are enough to make the average New Zealand beef farmer's eyes water to the extreme. Trump has expanded his empire and set foot into the steak business with Trump Steaks.

South America set for dairy increase
Dairy industry specialists predict that by 2027 world demand for dairy products will have increased 20% while the price of milk will maintain the same. They also predict that South American countries will become the key players of the world market for supply of dairy products.

E. coli vaccine shows potential
The development of a new vaccine against E. coli in cattle could be a huge boost for sheep farmers who struggle with Watery Mouth in their newborn lambs.

Footrot vaccine could be available soon
Researchers now have some new clues in the fight agains footrot. The vicious disease, which costs the meat and wool industry millions of dollars each year, could soon be preventable by a new vaccine currently being worked on by Australian scientists.

Transparency between supermarkets and suppliers needed
Supermarkets and food processors need to work in a fair, transparent and sustainable way with their suppliers so that all parts of the food chain will have an opportunity to prosper. This is the key message the NFU will give at a European meeting next week.

Fed Farmers suggests GST increase
Using a portion of GST revenues to fund local government is one of the alternatives mooted in a Federated Farmers' submission to the independent inquiry into rates.

Click here for articles from April 2007

Click here for articles from March 2007

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