Jun 16, 2007 New Zealand meat producers say they are unlikely to change their export practices despite criticism from farmers in Britain. Kiwi producers have just made an emergency dash to the UK to calm fears that New Zealand lamb exports are undermining the home-grown alternative. An early spring meant a bumper season for New Zealand lamb exports and that in turn meant a longer season on supermarket shelves in the UK. And with meat prices so low, sheep and beef farmers say they would...

Last year's progress translated into less time required for the goats to graze this year and reduced the area needing grazing to about eight acres, she said. Last year, the goats covered about 10 acres total in that area and it took them almost four weeks. Cost for sheep to graze in the western hills of Carson during April and May of this year was less than $12,000, not counting time expended by city staff. Removing a certain plant or weed to keep it from overrunning native vegetation is...

Pig farmers have seen the benefit of a 6% price rise more than cancelled out by the impact of more expensive feed and it is a similar story for poultry. In its quarterly Farming Outlook report, the NFU's Economic Department predicted that the rise of land prices will result in higher grain prices and sharp increases in the cost of animal feed. Higher feed prices will also impact negatively on the beef industry, which suffers from continued cost pressure as a result of marketing...

The average weight of 67 pounds per goat was 4 pounds heavier than both a month ago and a year ago. For the year to date, commercial red meat production is 19. Veal production totaled 12. Feature Programs & Commentary. Lamb and mutton production during May was pegged at 15.

But, for now, just the feel and smell of damp soil after such a long dry spell is helping to instill faith that there's a future in farming. In the high cattle country in Victoria, where at the start of this year torrid conditions drove the bushfires that razed more than a million hectares of forest, the rivers are filling. Only a few months ago Dutch bank Rabobank, a major lender to the farming sector, issued a survey noting that people who lived on the land were glum at their prospects....