Farmers Weekly NZ March 1 2021

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17 Rural internet competition heats up Vol 19 No 8, March 1, 2021

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Quality to bring rewards farmers to submit their full farm dairy records to the cooperative by June 30, 2022, one month earlier than the previously required deadline. Farmers would have to develop an animal wellbeing plan with their veterinarians to ensure animal welfare standards are met. Fonterra has also partnered with DairyNZ to use its Workplace 360 tool to make sure farmers are compliant around health and safety, labour practices and staff wages. Allen says the tool has three parts and farmers would have to achieve 100% on its first part. The environmental requirement will mean farmers either having a farm environment plan (FEP) or be on a waiting list to be getting such a plan. These plans can be either a Fonterra-created plan or a certified plan drawn up by a consultant. He says about 45% of its farms had such a plan, as it hopes to achieve having all farmers with FEPs by 2025.

Gerald Piddock gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz

T

EN cents of Fonterra’s farmgate milk price will be determined by the farmer’s environmental and milk quality credentials, after it announced changes to its Cooperative Difference framework. The payment is not in addition to the average farm gate milk price forecast, but will be part of the milk payment parameters used by Fonterra when paying individual farmers. The amount and targets for the payment will be set annually by the Fonterra Board. The new system, starting from June 1, would see seven of the 10c for achievements in areas including the environment, coop and prosperity, animals, and people and community focus areas. Fonterra’s group director for Farm Source Richard Allen says the co-op and prosperity achievement would require

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SCOURED WOOL: Checking the scouring process of wool donated for a new Southland Charity Hospital are project organisers and Southland sheep farmers Aimee Blaikie and Sarah Dooley and NZ Woolscouring process coordinator Emily Shields.

Bales4Blair project a success the name of Southland cancer advocate Blair Vining. NZ Woolscouring chief executive Nigel Hales says it was an easy decision to be involved. “This is such an important project for the Otago and Southland communities and means a great deal to the farmers who supply us and the people who work for us in Timaru,” Hales said. “The Bales4Blair team has worked incredibly hard and farmers have very generously donated wool.” Hales says the wool grease will go to a known international refiner to be further processed and highly refined to become cholesterol and then vitamin D.

Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz ABOUT 400 bales of donated wool was processed for free last week by Canterbury Woolscourers, with half being made into insulation for a new Southland Charity Hospital in Invercargill and the other half sold. A subsidiary of New Zealand Woolscouring Ltd, the Timaru plant processed the wool free of charge, with 200 bales going to Terra Lana to be turned into wool insulation batts. A further 200 bales has been bought by carpet manufacturer Godfrey Hirst, with the sale proceeds donated to a new charity hospital being built in

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“As we all know, vitamin D has become a powerful supplement in the fight against covid-19,” he said. “It’s great to know that the donations made by farmers will have wide-reaching benefits beyond our shores.” Vining died in 2019 having earlier been diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer. He discovered major variations in cancer care across different regions of NZ and campaigned for better access to procedures such as colonoscopies, a move that was backed by a 140,000 signature petition. The Southland Charity Hospital is expected to open by the end of the year.

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