Recent Articles
Footrot not just a merino problem
By Trudi Baird Presently, footrot is thought to cost the merino industry in excess of $3m but is estimated to cost the sheep industry as a whole (in this country) between $80m and $100m. And unless progress is made in dealing with the problem, Footrot which was originally considered predominately a merino disease, is set […]
Getting rid of that ticking
By Joanne Marshall A bad rural internet connection is like a deadly disease – you hope you don’t get it and that if you do that there’ll be a cure for it. Unfortunately for rural people with a bad connection the only thing on offer is a small non-waterproof sticky plaster. This half-pie solution is […]
US loss is NZ’s gain
By Will Verboven The American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) is trying to rally the troops to fight a giant American grocery store chain over their decision to stock only New Zealand lamb. The Safeway chain has over 1,200 stores in the USA and over 200 in Canada. In addition they own several other smaller chain […]
Worm eating fungi could benefit farmers
By Joanne Marshall Early in July Farmnews reported that some Australian and British researchers had made a breakthrough in the war against worm parasites in sheep. At that time the researchers had found that a nematophagous fungi could be used to control the free-living stages of some worm parasites of sheep under grazing conditions. Since […]
Land sales start evening out
By Trudi Baird Charlton Farm Consultant Peter Hook believes the dairying boom in Southland may have reached a plateau for conversion properties for sustainability and financial reasons. From a sustainability perspective, Mr Hook said one area of concern is water supply which is not always adequate to cope with the required demands of dairying. But […]