K25 Reports

The New Zealand sheep breeding industry in the next ten years is likely to be more focused on breeding for traits that meet market requirements rather than breeding for on farm production. This is being driven by meat companies starting to pay on the meat value of the carcass. With the assistance of breeding tools … Read more

Rural Women New Zealand has been in operation for over 80 years. Through the years and the name changes its main aim to support rural women, families and communities has stayed basically the same. As a relatively new member of RWNZ, there is a lot about the organisation that I do not know about or … Read more

This report aims to identify the roading issues of SH 2 that place barriers on the future development of Te Puke. By identifying the problem areas, created by high traffic volumes and high heavy vehicle percentages, it will stimulate discussion and debate resulting in a more unified approach to achieving solutions. It recommends a more … Read more

Irrigation and water storage has long been touted as a potential for improvements in productivity in dryland East Coast areas. Reports date back to the 1880’s discussing the benefits water would bring to farmlands. Currently there is 750,000ha of land irrigated in New Zealand with approximately 400,000ha in Canterbury. The total irrigated area in New … Read more

The following report researches the feasibility and profitability of growing Hazelnuts on our property in Canterbury and outlines these findings in a business plan. MacDonald Boyd, A

Accident Compensation Corporation Statistics (ACC Statistics 2009) show that there are on average 30 sudden deaths on farms each year. These figures are only for accidents on farm. They do not include sudden deaths related to medical conditions.(See Appendix A) These statistics highlight the reason why we should all be prepared for the sudden death … Read more

The Fresh Produce industry is by nature competitive, and the demand for high quality consistent products requires technologies and methods to describe and manage the high degree of variability which is inherent in Horticultural crops. An opportunity exists to use Supply Chain Information to measure the quality and value of fruit, and a range of … Read more

Over the past twelve months we have seen extreme fluctuations in factors affecting agricultural return such as exchange rates and dairy payout. This volatility is changing the risk status of agriculture in New Zealand. Farmers need to take greater control of the financial management of their businesses. There is a great opportunity to increase profitability … Read more

What is our dairy pasture really worth? Or, more importantly, what are we prepared to pay for the land that it grows on? Through this report, seven farm performance parameters have been compared with the value offarm sales in the Matamata-Piako district. The two physical parameters, pasture production, and milksolids production, have been compared with … Read more

Exercise is important for all women of all ages and it should be an integral part of your life. A number of women were surveyed or received a Fitness Challenge Programme for 2009 on their exercise regime. I wanted to find out what exercise women were involved in and what motivated them to exercise. This … Read more

Today’s farmers are under increasing pressure to adopt more efficient agricultural principles, making the best possible use of resources by minimising high energy inputs, such as pesticides, fertilisers, fossil fuels and water, without loss of food quality and yield. The challenges are to maintain and increase productivity and profitability, while reducing any potentially negative environmental … Read more