Volume 157 – November 27, 2023
Ag&Ed Educational resources for schools & students
Read, listen to and watch what is happening in New Zealand agriculture by scanning the QR codes or following the links. Answer the questions to complete the exercises. The big issue
Watch this
Can new tech stop letterbox theft? Technology is being used in a new product being fitted onto rural mailboxes. bit.ly/letterboxes
What’s the story with dairy beef?
Have a go: 1. What is the name of the product that Nick Deane developed and what does it do? 2. What problem has it been designed to help solve? 3. What existing technology has been used in the design? 4. Why is this new product better than putting a padlock on the mailbox?
Dairy beef means calves are not processed as very young animals, but instead are raised for meat production. Pāmu is moving to more dairy beef production to increase efficiency and profitability.
Stretch yourself: 5. Can you think of any other ways RFID readers could be used in rural areas?
bit.ly/dairy-beef
In the news
Have a go: 1. In what year does Pāmu aim to be raising all calves born on dairy farms? 2. What percentage of calves born on Pāmu farms are currently being raised by Pāmu? 3. What percentage of total beef production is estimated to come from dairy beef? Stretch yourself: 4. Why is increased understanding around genetics important to achieve their goal? 5. What economic benefits does rearing all young stock born on farm give the business? 6. What other benefits might this provide the business?
Did you know?
Going, going, gone? Five years of hard work by Henry Miller has culminated in winning the New Zealand Young Auctioneers award. https://bit.ly/winning-auctioneer Have a go: 1. How did Henry get into auctioneering? 2. How did moving to Kurow help his career? 3. What does Henry enjoy about being an auctioneer? 4. Who started the competition and why? 5. Where will Henry be heading to showcase NZ auctioneering?
Is there more demand for dairy? Recent economic data has been more positive than expected. This article looks at what factors influence the price. bit.ly/dairy-demand Have a go: 1. How have dairy prices been performing at recent Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auctions? What does this indicate about demand for dairy? 2. What country is our main importer of dairy products? 3. What milk solids price did Fonterra set in its latest 2023-2024 forecast? 4. Fertiliser prices are expected to be stable, how does this impact farm budgets and profits? Stretch yourself: 5. How might a dry El Niño summer impact the GDT? 6. How could the Israel-Hamas war potentially impact the GDT?