A weekly programme of issues and stories of particular concern to the rural community, and also of interest to a general audience. The programme broadcasts on Friday night after the 9pm news and is repeated on Saturday morning after the 7am news. In this programme:
21:05
Guest
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Lake Brunner dairy farmer Renee Rooney is involved in the Inchbonnie Best Practice Project.
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Lake Brunner dairy farmer Renee Rooney is involved in the Inchbonnie Best Practice Project.
Topics: rural, farming
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Tags: Inchbonnie Best Practice Project, dairy farming, water, Lake Brunner
Duration: 5'23"
21:10
Regional Wrap
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It's been frosty in the North Island while in South most regions have had significant rain.
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It's been frosty in the North Island while in South most regions have had significant rain.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions:
Tags: farming conditions
Duration: 9'30"
21:13
Fijian Farming
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A group of Fijian dairy farmers has been visiting New Zealand looking at technology and farm management techniques that could be put into practice or adapted to suit their farms. New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has set up a Fiji Dairy Development Programme that aims to increase milk quality and milk production in Fiji and to increase the prosperity of its dairy farmers.
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Fijian dairy farmers Camille Compain and Hirdesh Nand and the National Agricultural Fieldays.
A delegation of 12 Fijian dairy farming representatives has just left New Zealand following a tour looking at farming practices and dairying technology here.
They're part of a Fiji Dairy Development Programme sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
One of the New Zealand consultants to the programme, James Allen from AgFirst, says it's a five year programme that aims to increase milk quality and milk production in Fiji and to increase the prosperity of its dairy farmers.
There are about 400 commercial dairy farms in Fiji and the annual milk production is 10 million litres.
However that needs to grow to 70-or-80 million litres to meet domestic demand, James says.
Dairy farmer Hirdesh Nand has a herd of 70 cows in Fiji's Western Division. He milks three cows at a time on temporary equipment.
His farm was set up three years ago on Crown land that has been taken out of sugar cane.
Fijian dairy farmers get paid 80 cents (F) per litre. By comparison, New Zealand farmers will have a payout of 60 cents (F).
"At present it is quite good...compared to sugar cane farming it's really a good farming," Hirdesh says.
He says he has been particularly interested in pasture management and calf selection techniques and has been impressed by the way New Zealand farmers produce their own supplementary feed on farm.
"After my tour, what I am going to do is to improve my farm to a better level so that I can increase my milk production to get more productive in future."
Topics: rural, business, farming
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Tags: Fiji Dairy Development Programme, milk, trade, National Agricultural Fieldays, Fiji
Duration: 11'43"
21:30
QE2 National Trust
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The QE 2 National Trust has just celebrated the signing up of the 4000th covenant. The first parcel of land which belonged to a key trust founder, Gordon Stephenson, was signed up in 1979. These days the trust receives more applications for covenants than it can cope with. Its success comes down to landowners joining up voluntarily and retaining sole ownership of the land, while the protection order over the land is in perpetuity.
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The First and 4000th QE2 National Trust Covenantors. Gordon and Celia Stephenson (1st) and Keith and Margaret Ormsby (4000th).
QE2 Celebrates 4000th Covenants
When botanist and environmentalist David Bellamy visited New Zealand and heard about the QE2 National Trust, an organisation which uses covenants to protect parcels of land in perpetuity, he gave the concept the thumbs up.
The nearly 40 year old trust has just signed up its 4000th covenant and speaking at the celebratory event, host and Cambridge sheep and beef farmer Bill Garland quoted Bellamy, saying “nowhere (else) in the world can he think of landowners stepping up, or lining up , to protect areas of biodiversity in perpetuity.”
The milestone covenant was established by Waikato farmers Keith and Margaret Ormsby.
They’ve protected several areas of native bush on their farm and fenced and planted up all 12 streams which originate on their property and eventually end in the Waikato River.
Margaret Ormsby says they’ve planted 27,000 natives and will plant many more to enhance their covenants.
Trust co founder and first covenantor, Gordon Stephenson, says he’s not surprised at the success of the trust, even though at the time it was set up (1977) farmers were being encouraged to fell bush and plant grass.
“Lawyers and accountants warned against damaging one’s asset values, but they were wrong. The trust tapped into a latent conservation attitude.”
He says the dam that burst has been flooding ever since and he was thrilled to be part of the organisation which has been registering over two new covenants a week, for years.
National Trust hosts Bill and Sue Garland on their Kairangi farm near Cambridge.
Topics: rural, farming
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Tags: conservation, Bellamy, covenant, perpetuity
Duration: 21'30"