With the serious issue of drought (whose effects will be felt for some time despite last week's rain) and constant milk pay-out concerns, the chance for Northland farmers to hear from industry leaders at the annual BNZ Northland Dairy Development Trust (NDDT) conference in Whangarei was timely, according to trust chairwoman Penny Smart.
The conference will take place in the ASB Lounge, Western Hills Drive, on Tuesday, March 7 (9.45am-2pm).
Fonterra chairman John Wilson would not be there because of commitments abroad, his place being taken by director and chairman of the Co-operative Relations Committee, John Monaghan, along with BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander.
Ms Smart said the conference would offer "interesting and pertinent" updates on the trust's current three farmlet trial (grass only, cropping and PKE), now in its second season at the Northland Agricultural Research Farm (NARF) near Dargaville, the national and global milk and banking scenes, and a general overview of what was happening in science, research and regulation in Northland.
The Northland Regional Council would contribute a presentation on the draft regional plan, and Northland Inc would be discussing the 350 Project, the programme designed to help lift farm performance and profitability in Northland, jointly supported by DairyNZ, Beef+Lamb New Zealand, Northland Inc and the Ministry for Primary Industries.