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This page contains this week’s e-diary national notices.
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This week’s notices:
Seeking Wairoa District farmers’ views on native shrub revegetation in hill country
Massey University researcher Joan Ropiha is inviting farmers to share their views on using native shrubs to revegetate steep, erosion-prone pastoral land. The survey is confidential, takes about 10 minutes to complete, and is easy to participate in. As a thank you, five $100 gift cards will be donated to hill country-related charities in the Wairoa District. This research builds on Joan’s work for B+LNZ’s Hill Country Futures programme under the Resilient Forages workstream. Complete the survey here before 30 November.
New Food & Fibre employer toolkit
A new employers' toolkit, supported by the Food & Fibre Cove, is designed to help farm employers, managers, and supervisors to attract and retain skilled employees. The toolkit offers practical tips and steps tailored to the unique challenges of our sector. Offering practical sector-specific guidance, this free resource is now open for pilot use – sign up here. B+LNZ supports the Food & Fibre CoVE projects and technical working groups.
Seeking beef farmers for B+LNZ's INZB programme
We are seeking beef farmers interested in being involved in our Informing New Zealand Beef Programme. Involvement will appeal to farmers who wish to assess their bull team’s performance, gain more accurate information for heifer selection, and work with their stud breeder to drive genetic progress. More details here.
Resilient forages a feature of the Hill Country Futures website
Lucerne and legume-based forages come into their own over spring and summer, particularly in dryland hill country environments. These protein-rich plants support ewe lactation and enhance lamb growth rates both pre- and post-weaning, while also helping ewes maintain body condition for next season’s reproductive performance. The Hill Country Futures website offers extensive information about establishing, managing, and utilising resilient forages in hill country. Hill Country Futures (HCF) was a $8.1 million partnership programme led by B+LNZ which ran for five years. It was co-funded by B+LNZ, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), PGG Wrightson Seeds and RAGT New Zealand. Find out more.
Want to measure methane in your flock?
Stud breeders interested in measuring methane emissions in their flocks need to submit an Expression of Interest by the end of November. Through the Cool Sheep® programme, breeders can receive funding to measure emissions in their flocks using AgResearch's Portable Accumulation Chambers. The data is combined with genotyping to generate a methane breeding value. Submit your interest here.