Why?
OPINION: A mate of yours truly wants to know why the beef schedule differential is now more than 45-50 cents a kilo between North and South Island producers – if you look at February 2024 steer prices.
Beef up, sheep down, is the simple message from Beef + Lamb NZ’s latest data on the state of the national sheep flock and beef herd.
The report shows that in the last year beef cattle numbers are up by 2.6% (or 97,000 head) nationwide. Of this total 3.8 million, just over one million are breeding cows or heifers.
The biggest increase in beef numbers was in the South Island – up 4.6% while the North Island was up 1.8%. Most of the increase in beef numbers in the South Island was in Otago and Southland, while the East Coast and Taranaki/Manawatu were the main contributors to the rise in cattle numbers in the North Island.
Despite beef cattle numbers being up, surprisingly the number of breeding cows declined in the last year by 1.4%. But against the national trend there was an increase in Otago. BLNZ predicts calving percentages for the current season will be in line with those of 2018.
In sheep, a minuscule increase of 0.4% in the national flock is due to greater hogget numbers which rose 3.4% to 9.55m. Set against that was a drop of 1.1% in the number of breeding ewes (16.97m) held on farms.
BLNZ says it has been a great season for lambs: the tally is down 570,000 or 2.4% on last season.
The North Island lamb crop is expected to drop by 1.8% and the South Island crop by 3%.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
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