Latest news with #dairyfarmer
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Farmer 'raped wife, underage daughter and a cow... and made his partner watch other acts of bestiality with calves'
A farmer who is accused of raping his wife and underage stepdaughter over two decades has also been charged with committing sexual acts with cows and calves. The dairy farmer allegedly told his wife about having sex with his cows and made her watch as he made the calves perform sexual acts on him. The man, whose name cannot be reported to protect the identity of his accusers, is on trial in New Zealand where he faces 38 charges of sexual assault, including 15 of rape, one of bestiality involving cows and one of performing indecent acts on calves. His stepdaughter said the offending began when she was under 10 years old and escalated to near-nightly rapes for the next decade, Whangārei District Court heard. She claims she was raped nearly 300 times, Crown Prosecutor Geraldine Kelly told the jury. The victim said she felt relief when her stepfather got a vasectomy, The New Zealand Herald reported. Kelly said: 'Getting pregnant had been a concern for her before she was 12.' The girl did not speak about the offending out of love for her stepfather as well as 'confusion' over her body's response to the abuse, Kelly said. The court heard the man had a 'daily requirement' for sex which also led to his alleged sexual offending against his wife. He allegedly believed rape did not exist, saying that all women give in eventually and enjoy sex. He also told his wide that 'no means yes', Kelly told jurors. The man allegedly admitted to his wife that he had been having sex with some of the cows and showed her how he did it. During calving season, the man allegedly made the calves perform oral sex on him, which his wife also saw. Kelly said that on at least 20 occasions he would make his wife have sex with him after the act with the calves. Kelly added: 'She told him she found it repulsive but he would just do it'. The farmer's lawyer Matthew Ridgley said the alleged bestiality with the cows was nonsense. He told the jury it was for them to decide whether what happened was indecent. He said the farmer acknowledged he had sex with his stepdaughter but argued it was consensual and when she was over the age of 16. Ridgeley said that any sex with the man and his wife was also consensual The trial is expected to last three weeks.
CBC
01-08-2025
- Business
- CBC
N.S. dairy farmer reacts to Trump's criticisms
Washington is focusing on is Canada's dairy industry. U.S. President Donald Trump says the current deal is unfair to his country's producers. Brett Ruskin spoke to a dairy farmer in Nova Scotia to get his take.
Fast Company
18-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
How the energy as a service model is disrupting industrial energy procurement
The subscription business model, software as a service (SaaS), has become the norm for organizations of all sizes to manage everything from accounting and finance to communication and collaboration. Energy as a service (EaaS), however, is a new framework that is transforming traditional utility models and offering businesses a way to purchase energy without an upfront equipment investment. 'For a lot of mom-and-pop businesses, or even medium-sized businesses, the old utility model has been the only option,' says Jay Bhatty, CEO and founder of a company that builds automation software for clients in the oil and gas industry. 'If you move to a city, you go to the utility, apply for an electricity or natural gas connection, pay the utility, and buy necessary equipment. But with the new model, you don't need to buy the equipment yourself.' THE UPSIDES AND DOWNSIDES OF ENERGY AS A SERVICE Bhatty gives an example to illustrate the differences between the two models. With the traditional approach, if a dairy farmer in Texas needs a heat pump, they have to buy the pump and hook it up to a natural gas or electricity connection to generate heat for the business' daily operations. With the new EaaS model, the farmer works with a vendor that provides and installs the heat pump, sets up the connection, and charges the farmer only for the monthly energy service. 'A dairy farmer's core business is milk; it's not heat pumps or energy,' says Bhatty. 'They don't know enough about that business to know if they're choosing the best solution. They may not have the most environmentally efficient equipment. They may not be paying the lowest price for electricity or natural gas. And they are responsible for maintaining the pump. But if they work with a vendor that is a heat pump expert, they're just paying for the heat as energy as a service. They can ask the vendor for an environmentally friendly heat pump that runs on solar or wind or a cheaper option that runs on natural gas. They can determine their carbon footprint, and the vendor will take care of it.' Larger companies in the oil and gas industry are already using EaaS. Oil drilling rigs, for example, are composed of multiple components that are heavy, complex, and expensive. Each piece of equipment requires consistent maintenance from highly skilled professionals. Energy producers outsource this part of their business, partnering with drilling companies to install and maintain rigs and leasing them through long-term contracts. offers products that allow oil and gas industry clients to lease storage on transport space on pipelines instead of buying it. The company's software identifies these opportunities for them in the market, connecting buyers that need space and sellers that have excess capacity. 'You see this model in other industries as well,' says Bhatty. 'In real estate, when you rent an apartment, you don't have to buy the appliances. You don't know what the carbon footprint is of the appliances or the cost of electricity. You're renting an apartment as a service, in the same way that businesses use energy as a service. When you call an Uber, you don't have to worry about the maintenance of the car. And in the future, ride-sharing companies might offer more specific options: If you want to lower your carbon footprint, you can call an electric vehicle. Or if you want a cheaper price, you can call a gasoline-powered vehicle.' The main challenge of EaaS is risk mitigation, explains Bhatty. Businesses need a guarantee that working with a vendor is more cost-effective than taking a DIY approach. 'Let's say I commit to a one-year contract for energy as a service,' says Bhatty. 'But what happens if my costs are not as low as what I could do myself? Then I'm stuck with this contract. I want a vendor to say: Give me your monthly heat pump bill. If you go with our service, we guarantee you 10% below your monthly bill or else you don't pay us. There are some risk mitigation factors that you have to build into your contract to protect your business.' EVALUATING THE BUSINESS VALUE OF EEAS Bhatty encourages business leaders interested in exploring EaaS to take the following steps. • Do your due diligence: 'Do your homework to select the right vendor. It's the traditional own versus rent model that depends on what's good for your business. Figure out the factors that matter most to you: optimal system performance, efficiency, environmental benefits, cost savings, reduced risk.' • Identify measurable cost savings: 'Know your monthly costs. When you are evaluating vendors, build it into the contract that whatever is being offered is guaranteed and measurable. The cost savings should be demonstrable. Otherwise, you end up paying more for a service you could have done yourself. Keep in mind that contracts are usually at least a minimum of a year because this is heavy equipment that has to be installed on site.' • Find your reason why: 'This model is picking up steam, and it will continue to do so the more efficient it becomes. Find the driving factor for your business to adopt EaaS. In some states, like California, it might be environmental concerns. In others, like Texas, it might be cost savings. Understand what you're trying to achieve, and how energy as a service can help you get there.'
