RMA amendments 'will be a relief to farmers'
The Government’s announcement that a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) could be introduced in Parliament next month will be a relief to farmers, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ).
We will see a $8/kgMS milk price again – but we will also see $4/kgMS again, says New Zealand special agricultural trade envoy Mike Petersen.
Market insight and intelligence will be very important in next months, he told an Agcarm conference in Auckland yesterday.
"We shouldn't be surprised by volatility – I have been talking about this for the last 10 years," Petersen said.
Just in time delivery by retailers is one influence. "Volatility is here to stay – we need to come to terms with it," he said.
New Zealand dairy is 30% of all cross border trade, and that is the first to be hit by volatility.
We need to be more resilient, Petersen said, and farmers should set their business up to be more resilient in the face of volatility. Nevertheless he said, the future is extremely bright.
Earlier Jacqueline Rowarth told the conference Beef and Lamb analysis showed we did not market – an example, Wales spend $57 per tonne of product – New Zealand, $11.
Failing to market food at premium quality is costing New Zealand producers dearly, she said.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Two major red meat sector projects are getting up to a combined $1.7 million in funding from the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
Angus Barr and Tara Dwyer of The Wandle, Lone Star Farms in Strath Taieri have been named the Regional Supreme Winners at the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Dunedin.
OPINION: The distress that the politicians and bureaucrats are causing to the people of Wairoa and the wider Tairāwhiti is unforgivable.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.