Whanganui news in brief: Bridal gowns not sold, Only M. bovis case

Bridal gowns not sold

Hospice Whanganui's ReFashioned Bridal fundraiser, such a novel idea that it was publicised on TV3, hasn't sold one of the 11 wedding gowns on Trade Me, operations manager Sandy McDougall said.

She's planning to do a photo shoot of women wearing them and put them up again. In the meantime some of designer Jane Yeh's sample gowns are for sale at the Hospice Boutique store.

"I think Whanganui must be overloaded with wedding gowns - or our gowns are too sweet and polite for modern girls," McDougall said.

Only M. bovis case
The Manawatu/Whanganui region still has only one farm infected with the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis. It is in the Tararua area and has yet to be depopulated and cleaned. Several other farms in the region are being tested.
In total New Zealand had 37 infected properties on August 30. All are under quarantine. There have been 32,561 cattle culled so far, and $18.9 million in compensation paid for them.

Beef + Lamb levy up
The Beef + Lamb NZ sheep and beef levy will be increasing from October 1 this year. B+LNZ consulted with farmers on a proposal to increase the levies from 60 cents to 70 cents for sheepmeat, and from $4.40 to $5.20 for beef. There were 1881 submissions and 63 per cent supported the levy proposal.