Taupō-based, low-carbon dairy processor, Miraka has announced a strong 2024/25 season milk price. Photo: supplied
A wrap of the week's rural news from RNZ's rural news desk.
Dairy prices continue to rise, with the average price jumping 1.7% at the global dairy trade auction this week. Taupō-based milk processor, Miraka, is also starting the new season strong with a forecast milk price of $8.42 a kilo of milk solids. You can read more here.
Things are tough for sheep farmers in Hawke's Bay. Prices for in-lamb ewes at a recent sale dropped to their lowest level in at least a decade, with auctioneers struggling to get $100. Meanwhile, Christchurch based bio-tech company Keraplast, which extracts proteins from sheep wool, has opened new premises in Christchurch as the sector continues to grow.
Fishing crews in Hawke's Bay are catching thousands of porcupinefish. Photo: Rick Burch
A trial underway by NZ King Salmon to use recycled water in its new salmon rearing systems is paying off, with indications the fish grow better and have better health outcomes in re-circulating aquaculture systems like this. Over in Hawke's Bay, fishers have been left pondering a rise in the number of porcupine fish, otherwise known as blow-fish, being caught post-Cyclone Gabrielle. You can read more here.
Registered deer are showing up as unregistered, Deer Industry NZ says. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Deer Industry New Zealand says some of its farmers have had issues with the National Animal Identification and Tracing system, known as NAIT, when animals they've registered show up as un-registered. A legal requirement, farmers can be charged for non-compliance if incorrect data goes through to the Ministry for Primary Industries. You can read more here.
