In light of the current COVID-19 situation, Beef + Lamb New Zealand has made the decision to continue to suspend any face-to-face workshops or events until 30 September. This is in line with current Government advice and guidelines. B+LNZ will continue to review this on an ongoing basis and, if circumstances allow, will recommence running face-to-face workshops and events as soon as we safely can.
B+LNZ is constantly working on different ways to deliver our extension programme and events to farmers during this time and will keep farmers updated on this as it develops.
The Farm Survey which monitors production and financial performance on 550 farms nationwide is critical for our industry and is continuing, albeit remotely. Farmers who are part of the Farm Survey should still expect to be contacted by their Economic Service Manager, with information being collected electronically or over the phone.
“Our main priority continues to be ensuring we keep our farmers and food producers, along with our staff, healthy and safe,” says B+LNZ’s General Manager South Island John Ladley.
“We’re also focused on continuing to provide farmers with the best information and advice to run successful farming businesses during this time. We’re already making use of online livestreaming, videos, and increasing our podcasting capability to keep getting topical and relevant information out to farmers. To keep-up-to-date with new initiatives connect through Facebook, Twitter, and the Knowledge Hub on our website. It is our intention to test and roll out more interactive initiatives in the coming weeks.
“This is an incredibly tough time across the country, and doubly so for many farmers who have been dealing with droughts and floods.”
An example of one new tool being used to hold events was the B+LNZ Annual Meeting which was held via livestream after not being able to be held in person in New Plymouth because of the COVID-19 lockdown.
“We appreciate many farmers prefer face-to-face events. With those not possible at present, we’re making the most of this opportunity to see how we can better share some of the previously held regional events across the whole country too. We’d love to hear back ideas from farmers on what we could do too,” says John.