Brent TrailManaging DirectorSurveying Services Ltd In this day and age, with information abounding online as well as down at the local cafe and bar, it’s hard to know what to believe. I’ve recently been told a few interesting tales....... Read More

Stock Sensewith Paul McKeeRavensdown Technical Manager Every year some five to 10 per cent of New Zealand’s dairy cows will fail to adequately maintain their calcium levels within the 24-48 hours after calving. This crucial period can see...... Read More

Mike ChapmanNZKGI Chief Executive Horticulture is enjoying a period of growth. Kiwifruit, apples, avocados, cherries and onions are just some of our growth products. The advantage with horticultural exports is they also earn a premium price in...... Read More

Vet’s VisionPhil RennieTauranga Vets With calving in full swing it will soon be time to think about next season’s reproductive targets and getting those same cows back in-calf. For the New Zealand dairy industry, the national ‘in-calf’...... Read More

Bill WebbFeed SolutionsOutlook The unseasonably warm and wet autumn and winter have provided the unexpected bonus of grass, which just keeps growing. In fact, the pasture hasn’t stopped growing for seven months. Farms I visited in early-July...... Read More

Financewith Don Fraser Fraser Farm Finance The acidity-alkalinity balance has a major impact on all facets of animal, soils and human life. Without getting too scientific here it seems to have a lot to do with negatively charged ions – acid...... Read More

Brent TrailManaging DirectorSurveying Services Ltd What a difference a month can make. Last month I reported the Thames Coromandel District Council had announced the decisions version of its new District Plan. This month many of those decisions,...... Read More

Soil matterswith Peter Burton of Functional Fertiliser Ltd The European Union has just refused to grant Monsanto a new licence for glyphosate. Whichever side of the debate you’re on, it signals the start of a fundamental change in agriculture...... Read More

Beneath the surfacewith David Lawof Forward Farming ”The earth is flat. How do I know? Because everyone around here believes it.” Three-hundred years ago, a statement like that wouldn’t have raised a single eyebrow. Back then,...... Read More

Vet’s VisionPhil RennieTauranga Vets During the dry period, cows’ metabolisms gradually build and then increase quickly once lactation starts. This is most notably seen with the demand for two key macrominerals –calcium and magnesium. Calcium...... Read More

Stock Sensewith Paul McKeeRavensdown Technical Manager The sight of little tufts of wool appearing along fencelines could also be a hit to your bottom line. These tufts are a tell-tale sign your ewes are itching and scratching because of lice....... Read More

Bill WebbFeed SolutionsOutlook Dairy farmers are demonstrating their resilience by reducing farm costs in response to the drop in payout. And my impression is the overall attitude out there is reservedly positive – not gloom and doom. It...... Read More

Mike ChapmanNZKGI Chief Executive Horticulture is going through a growth phase. The growth is across most of the commercial horticultural products – not only kiwifruit, avocados and apples, but also cherries, berries, onions and potatoes. This...... Read More

Beneath the surfacewith David Lawof Forward Farming What are we to make of the latest pay promise of $9.20/kg ms for organic milk? $9.20 is a 60% per cent rise from the current organic payout and a staggering 235 per cent higher than the payout...... Read More

Mike ChapmanNZKGI Chief Executive In recent weeks there have been two significant biosecurity events. The first was the horticulture industry’s submission to the Environmental Protection Agency to allow a small predatory wasp called Tamarixia...... Read More

Stock Sensewith Paul McKeeRavensdown Technical Manager   As ‘e friend’ zinc is an essential mineral required by stock for their health and wellbeing. It plays important roles in a number of processes that affect growth, production,...... Read More

Brent TrailManaging DirectorSurveying Services Ltd The Thames Coromandel District Council recently announced the decisions version of its new District Plan. This followed a period of five months receiving and processing submissions and another...... Read More

Rural Physio Roundupwith AmyDibley Physio Direct Ankle sprains are extremely common. However, this doesn’t make them easy to cope with when they happen to you. If you’ve ever spent two weeks hobbling around on crutches after an unfortunate...... Read More

Soil matterswith Peter Burton Eco-logic Soil Improvement Ltd Do you realise the amount of carbon in your soils affects how much they produce? A very readable and informative paper on soil carbon produced by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council in...... Read More