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INSIDE
THIS EDITION Young farmer title
August 2021 Edition
Doing milk differently Recognised: Bruce and susan turpie of Kolmar Dairies Ltd in Canterbury received the Doing Milk Differently Award at the recent annual synlait Dairy Honours Awards which recognise best in class dairy farming. the Doing Milk Differently Award recognises farmers who demonstrate Kiwi ingenuity for solving a problem or pursuing a new opportunity. the judges said the system the turpies use allows them to maximise feed and effectively get cows off paddock in winter, resulting in high production and strong pasture health and resilience. to find out more go to the full story on Page 51.
p5 Farm audit support
p15 Vote on levies
p38 Wood is good
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Proposed changes to freshwater programme welcomed Beef + Lamb New Zealand has welcomed proposed changes to the stock exclusion regulations and the low-slope map.
❚ by Kent Caddick B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor said the Government’s original low slope map identified thousands of hectares of steep land as low slope and therefore required fencing, which was unworkable and wouldn’t deliver good environmental outcomes. “That’s why we are pleased the Government has listened and changed the stock exclusion trigger from a 10 degree slope to a five degree slope and introduced an altitude
limit. That means if the area of an extensive farming operation is at a certain altitude, or/and above five degrees slope, it will not be required to be fenced. That’s a commonsense solution,” McIvor said. McIvor said they also support the improvements to the spatial resolution of the low slope map, although they are concerned a level of inaccuracy remains. “The outcome is that the bite of the regulations has been reduced and overall the regulations are far more workable and ef-
fects-based. However, we need to now discuss the practical implications with our farmers.” He said there remains a lot of concern among farmers about the Government’s proposed Certified Freshwater Farm Plan, the extent it will prescribe what farmers can do, the costs associated with certification and auditing, and the extent to which farmers’ personal or business information will become publicly discoverable.
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