Friday, March 29, 2024

Daily digest: March 31, 2020

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Good afternoon and welcome to the Daily Digest. In today’s edition covid-19 is presenting challenges to many in the primary sector, big and small. While freezing works look for ways to protect their staff, artisan producers are finding it hard to survive without the lifeline of traditional farmers’ markets. Some like-minded trading countries, including New Zealand, have pledged to keep access open to their markets. And there’s hope on the horizon for drought-stricken farmers in the shape of an ex-tropical cyclone potentially forming in the Coral Sea though it’s too early to be certain. Vets are advising farmers not to ask them to go on-farm unless it’s for truly essential work, otherwise just call them for advice. And a final plea from firefighters – now is not the time to be lighting fires because of the risk of the firefighters being infected with covid-19. 
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Artisan producers find it hard to stay afloat

Mozzarella maker Clevedon Buffalo is seeing 15 years of supplying local markets unravel before its eyes and it’s not alone – many producers make about half their income locally. One solution could be for the supermarket giants to support them.

 

Countries in accord over market access

New Zealand, along with Uruguay, Canada, Australia, Chile, Brunei, Myanmar and Singapore has agreed to keep essential supply chains open. It’s hoped the pledge might be extended to the 21 members of APEC, among them trading powerhouses such as China and the United States.

 

Signs of a cyclone spark hope

Weatherwatch meteorologist Phillip Duncan judges it increasingly likely a cyclone is forming in the Coral Sea though MetService is hedging its bets, saying it won’t be making a call for a few more days. Cyclones are a mixed blessing, though, with a serious one posing major problems in these pandemic times.

 

Carrfields Livestock goes online

Now sale yards have been closed down livestock traders such as Carrfields have moved towards using PGG Wrightson’s bdir online stock trading platform. Even if stock agents haven’t been accredited to the system they will be able to list and register after normal trading resumes.

 

Burning issue – don’t light fires outdoors

Farmers are being urged not to light fires outdoors during the lockdown because they expose firefighters to the risk of being infected with covid-19. 

 

Ag greenhouse gas conference in cyberspace 

The Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre’s annual conference, to have been held this week, will now be online over several weeks. Among the topics to be covered are how farmers’ understanding of climate change has evolved over the last decade. All field and laboratory research has stopped.

 

Tonight on Sarah’s Country:

7.10pm – Lisa Portas from Palliser Ridge discusses the impact the international visitor lockout has had on her agri-tourism business and talks about her Kellogg report Navigating our narrative.

7.20pm – Regional Economic  Development Minister Shane Jones on his swing of support behind the rural sector, following his call that now is not the time to regulate freshwater and that farming needs support as an essential service.

7.30pm – Q&A with Mark Barrowcliffe from the Shearing Contractors’ Association on what farmers and shearers can and cannot do as an essential service for animal welfare.

7.40pm – Q&A with Craig Young from TUANZ on why Vodafone is giving unlimited data to rural customers only after midnight while urban customers get data caps lifted all day.

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