Rural news in brief: Fieldays, bird hunting licences, farmers wanted for pasture survey

Fieldays is the largest agricultural event in the Southern Hemisphere.

Preparations under way for Fieldays 2024

The countdown is on for Fieldays 2024, with only 82 days until the gates open on Wednesday, June 12.

The small city starts taking shape in early April, transforming the 114ha of Mystery Creek Events Centre near Hamilton into a showcase of New Zealand’s food and fibre sector.

With more than 1000 exhibitors, Fieldays visitors can expect to see a diverse range of agricultural technology, innovative farm equipment, and rural lifestyle exhibits.

There are also Fieldays demonstrations and competitions, alongside the six Fieldays hubs.

The hubs are called Innovation, Hauora Taiwhenua Health and Wellbeing, Forestry, Careers and Education, Sustainability and Digital Futures.

Fieldays runs from June 12 to 15 and tickets go on sale in early May.

For more information go to www.fieldays.co.nz.

Fish & Game New Zealand game bird licences on sale now

Fish & Game has announced that game bird hunting licences for the 2024 season are now on sale, ahead of opening day on May 4.

With the season fast approaching, hunters can secure their licence online via the Fish & Game website or at selected retailers nationwide.

Hunters must have a licence to participate in game bird hunting during the upcoming season.

About 40,000 licences are sold each year, however, Fish & Game said those who hunt on their own land don’t need to purchase a licence but must abide by the regulations, such as bag limits and hunting hours.

An adult whole season licence costs $113.

The season length varies between regions throughout New Zealand and this is the first season to be approved by the new Hunting and Fishing Minister Todd McClay.

For more information and licence purchases visit: www.fishandgame.org.nz

Plugging the knowledge gap on costly pasture diseases

AgResearch science team leader Kwasi Adusei-Fosu.

AgResearch is calling on farmers to help plug a major knowledge gap on diseases in pastures, which will address biosecurity threats.

The pathogens (germs) that cause diseases in pasture plants such as crown rust and clover rot can have significant costs for farmers and the New Zealand economy.

In a changing climate, the concern is that those losses will escalate.

AgResearch science team leader Dr Kwasi Adusei-Fosu said there was a real gap in awareness and understanding about current diseases and the effect they have on pastures, both now and in the future.

“By building our knowledge around pasture diseases, we are also helping raise the awareness and preparedness for threats to New Zealand’s biosecurity, including the risk of new disease-causing organisms that could invade New Zealand.”

The last time New Zealand’s formal research on this topic was reviewed was in 1996 and before that, 1965.

Adusei-Fosu and his AgResearch colleagues have prepared an online survey aimed at farmers, to gauge the level of understanding of diseases present in New Zealand pastures.

Survey results will also inform an AgResearch programme aiming to reduce synthetic pesticide inputs on-farm.

A second survey to be carried out later will focus on understanding grower awareness of key insect pests and their current control methods.

The pasture pathogen survey, which will take no more than 10 minutes to complete, can be accessed at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YR68GHJ.