Report Year: 2001

Johne’s Disease is an infectious bacterial disease that primarily affects the intestinal tract of bovine and other ruminant animals. It is caused by a mycobacterium named Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis. The microbe is only able to multiply inside an animal’s intestinal tract. However, the development of clinical disease does not occur instantly and, in some instances, the organism is known to survive for more than a year in the intestinal tract. The microbe is also resistant to heat, cold and drying and can survive for considerable periods in the envi ronment . The main source of infection is directly from infected animals. Johne’s Disease is as much a herd problem in New Zealand as it is a problem for individual animals. There are some recent, but unconfirmed, reports of culturing the microbe, or detecting its genetic components in humans with Crohns disease. Johne’s Disease is an animal health problem which affects ruminant animals the world over. It therefore has implications for trade of dairy products as consumers become concerned and informed of animal health issues. It is therefore desirable that livestock industries take a proactive stance in increasing industry awareness and management measures to control the disease. This report gathers available research statistics and findings on the identification and treatment of Johne’s Disease (JD) in the New Zealand dairy cow population and makes recommendations on its control through a variety of management systems.

Rural Communities around us are dying. This study identifies that the best way to revive a rural community is by focusing on the community’s assets, capacities and abilities. In New Zealand the Department of Labour’s Community Employment Group (CEG) provides a good support network to encourage revitalisation. The change, however, must come from within the community. Apathy and a lack of self esteem appear to be the greatest limiting factors. The only competitive advantage a community has is the passion of its people. A healthy community has passionate leadership and a strong support team where they volunteer, collaborate, network and assist each other. A community in partnership with CEGS and embracing the Enterprise Facilitation concept will be the model for successful regional development in future. This report outlines a course of action being taken by one rural community.

Many New Zealand sheep and beef farmers are operating marginally viable farms. These people often justify remaining. In farming by quoting that farming is not so much for the money but the lifestyle. When the financial situation of theses farms is explored it concludes that after taking reasonable returns in real terms the farm is stagnant or slowly loosing ground. There is an opportunity however through equity farming to increase size. So long as care is taken through use of sound business practices to achieve top end performance the result is attractive. Equity farming would appeal to marginally viable farmers achieving good production results, or experienced farm managers wishing to take the next step. Equity farming on farms with scale is also attractive for investors. Returns equate around 5% – 6% coupled with an inflating land value making equity farming comparable with other investment. Rural investment is also attractive to overseas investors wanting a slice of New Zealand “paradise”. Rural investment is also appealing to ex farmers keeping an active involvement in an industry they have spent so much of their life.

“This report examines the problem of conflicting water use. There is a finite resource of water and an increasing number of bodies wanting to abstract it from the water bodies and use it for various uses; irrigation, power generation, urban supply to name a few. At the same time recreation water users and conservationists are becoming increasingly concerned as they see this precious resource being used out of river and becoming increasingly degraded. Drawing on in-depth interviews with some of the key players in resource planning, Fish & Game and Federated Farmers, it examines the current situation, looking at the issues raised and attempting to identify a solution which resolves the conflict and adequately manages the water resource. It then considers the merits of the Resource management Act. It examines the purpose and principals of the Act and looks briefly at perceived problems with the process for developing statutory water plans in order to manage these emotionally charged conflicts.

The New Zealand Dairy Industry is a resourced based highly fragmented industry with the distinctive competency of low cost production of milk-to-milk product. Fonterra co-operative has been created from a merger of three key players in the industry along with 14000 shareholders farmers, this company processes the primary resource of milk, manufacturing that resource into over 200 products and distributing to 120 countries. This industry is often highly subsidised throughout the world by use of direct government subsidies to that of government protection by high barriers of entry and monopoly rent. This report further explores the dairy industry’s core competency’s, its capabilities, resources, what current challenges are present and what may lye ahead, along with opportunities from an internal and external view.