Here are a selection of current stories from agridata.co.nz

Farming confronting technical conundrums

New Zealand’s traditional pasture-based farming system faces a conundrum, a leading scientist has warned. Pastoral genomics scientist Michael Dunbier said we were no longer the world’s lowest-cost food producer, our pastoral system was a major contributor of greenhouse gases, and customers demanded proof that slogans such as clean and green had some validity reports the ODT.

The reality was the our farming systems were contributing methane and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere and nitrate pollution of the soil and waterways. “They are not satisfied with slogans such as free-range or pasture-fed. We need to look carefully at our systems overall,” he said. In addition, resources such as phosphate were being depleted and questions were being asked about the efficiency and sustainability of fertiliser use in general.

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Processors tip a late flurry of lambs

Meat companies are bracing themselves for a late flurry of lambs as favourable growing conditions over most of the country create a grass market. Processing plants have been working short days because of the slow flow of prime lambs, but Silver Fern Farms chief executive Keith Cooper was confident the forecast number of lambs available for slaughter would be reached reports the ODT.

He said the abundant grass was affecting the flow of lambs from both store suppliers and finishers. There had been a noticeable increase in kill numbers in the past week, he said, and as autumn and winter drew near, farmers would be keen to quit their stock.”We do know stock will come over a period of time, but the risk associated with that is the influx of stock will not be in sync with markeplace requirements. It creates a production-driven model.”

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Farmers living on the edge

A team from AgResearch, led by Dr Neels Botha, reported “shocking” levels of stress after interviews with 60 North Island farmers. “We fear there could be quite a bit of depression in the farming community in the coming years,” said Botha. The 2007 study involved farmers in the Manawatu, Taupo and Rotorua areas, who were all facing new policies from regional authorities reports The NZ Herald.

“In our conversations it became clear that these people are concerned and stressed about potential regulation and changes in policy,” Botha said. Farmers worried for their livelihood experienced shock, denial, anger and fear, he said, which could lead to drinking, increasing isolation and aggression. Unchecked, it could also lead to depression and, in a worst-case scenario, suicide.

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