Farming, forestry information under one tent at field days

4 February, 2008

PASTORAL : MEDIA RELEASES 2009

Northland's wealth of agricultural research and extension will be on tap for farmers at the Northland Agricultural Field Days, Dargaville from February 26 to 28.

Under the umbrella of Northland Farm Research, site 243 on RD1 Rd will hold nine exhibitors representing dairying, sheep and beef cattle farming, pasture development and farm forestry.

Their activities of interest to land owners are inter-connected under the Northland Agriculture Forum (NAF) and Enterprise Northland.

The Field Days run from Thursday, February 26 to Saturday, February 28, from 8.30am to 4.30pm, on the new Awakino Point Rd home ground, just off State Highway 14, a little east of Dargaville.

Farmer-members and officials from Dairy NZ, Meat & Wool NZ, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, NZ Landcare Trust and the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) programme will be in attendance at times over the three days.

Landcare Trust's Northland co-ordinator, Helen Moodie , is representing the farmer-led Kikuyu Action Group, Totara Working Group and Northland Farm Resilience Project.

One of the newest programmes in the region, the Northland Farm Resilience Project will survey a range of Northland land owners affected by the two storms that hit the region in 2007 to identify their understanding and appreciation of the need for adaptation to increase the resilience of their production systems in response to increased frequency of such adverse events.

Options for adaptation and potential barriers from their point of view will be identified. AgResearch scientists on site at Dargavillle will be delighted to hear first-hand accounts of the responses to storm events.

The Northland Dairy Development Trust will be represented along with the regional Dairy NZ staff members.

Farm advisor Gareth Baynham will be there with his Meat & Wool NZ hat on and MAF officials will be available to discuss the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative, the Afforestation Grants Scheme and the Sustainable Farming Fund.

These are all resources for farmers to access to improve their pastures, productivity and environmental sustainability.

Farmers attending the Field Days are urged to drop in to site 243 and have their say, while picking up useful material from the organisations represented.