The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Covid 19 coronavirus: Sheep conference going ahead via virtual technology

Otago Daily Times
13 Apr, 2020 11:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Photo / File

Photo / File

The stage is set for an international sheep conference, thanks to virtual technology.

Called Head Shepherd, the event on April 16 has been organised by neXtgen Agri, whose team usually spent most of its days visiting clients and assisting with breeding programmes both in Australia and New Zealand.

• href="https://covid19.govt.nz/" target="_blank">Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

It had come to a "screaming halt" with the Covid-19 lockdown and the team was now providing that support via video and phone calls, founder and agricultural geneticist Dr Mark Ferguson said.

"All of the events ... in the next few months have been cancelled," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But one positive aspect had been that people were getting much better at using technology to communicate, so neXtgen Agri decided to provide some "positivity" to the farming community by organising a conference at short notice.

The response from speakers was "fantastic" and the line-up included fourth-generation South Australian merino farmer Rachel Titley, New Zealand agribusiness leader Traci Houpapa, NZX head of analytics Julia Jones, Emeritus Prof Herman Raadsma, from the University of Sydney, and Australian vet Dr Andrew Whale.

Along with strong interest from New Zealand and Australia, there had already been interest from the United Kingdom and Canada, Ferguson said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Secondary school pupils and tertiary students would have free entry to the conference.

Discover more

Shearing services will continue under the lockdown

03 Apr 04:00 AM
New Zealand

Why farmer's posting naked pics every day of lockdown

06 Apr 09:00 PM

Hawke's Bay bear: That's one BIG Ted

13 Apr 12:24 AM

Orchard website keeps pumpkins rolling out

13 Apr 10:30 PM
Save
    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

'Nice and close to the fish': King Salmon's new $8m site

Premium
The Country

'In your mouth, ears, everywhere': Living in a post-cyclone dust land

The Country

Winery’s after-work sampling session ends in tragedy as young staff member dies in crash


Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

'Nice and close to the fish': King Salmon's new $8m site
The Country

'Nice and close to the fish': King Salmon's new $8m site

Chief executive Carl Carrington says the new site would create 70-100 jobs.

10 Sep 10:02 PM
Premium
Premium
'In your mouth, ears, everywhere': Living in a post-cyclone dust land
The Country

'In your mouth, ears, everywhere': Living in a post-cyclone dust land

10 Sep 09:53 PM
Winery’s after-work sampling session ends in tragedy as young staff member dies in crash
The Country

Winery’s after-work sampling session ends in tragedy as young staff member dies in crash

10 Sep 07:20 PM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP