McIvor to step down in July
Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive Sam McIvor will step down in July.
New Zealand red meat processors and exporters are the latest group to lend their support to the ‘Kiwis Backing Farmers’ campaign.
They claim the only sustainable way for the Government to deliver better outcomes for the environment and the economy is to work with farmers.
The campaign, which has been spearheaded by Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) and rural advocacy group 50 Shades of Green, aims to highlight the cumulative effects of successive policies, such as the wholesale conversion of productive sheep and beef farms into carbon farms, on rural communities.
Meat Industry Association (MIA) chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says New Zealand’s sheep and beef farmers are among the most carbon efficient and environmentally sustainable producers of red meat in the world.
“However, successive waves of new regulation in areas such as freshwater, biodiversity and carbon farming are putting the sheep and beef farmers’ status as champions for the environment at risk,” says Karapeeva.
She says many of the regulations being foisted upon farmers would be better aligned with on-farm practice and are collectively adding unnecessary costs to farmers at a point when inflation and volatile global markets are putting their operations under extreme pressure.
She adds that the meat processing sector is also concerned by the lack of limits on fossil fuel emitters offsetting their emissions by planting trees on productive land.
“This risks pushing more land into carbon forestry, which will have long-term consequences for the viability of rural communities and the New Zealand economy as a whole,” Karapeeva says.
“We all have a deep interest in creating a cleaner, greener environment and a thriving economy, which is why we’re calling on the Government to work with sheep and beef farmers to achieve this.
“As it stands, the red meat sector generates almost $12 billion in earnings from exports to more than 100 countries and employs 92,000 people, and by working together we can grow this in a sustainable way.”
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Waikato herd health veterinarian Katrina Roberts is the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
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