Tuesday, 22 June 2021 09:55

Praise for dairy

Written by  Staff Reporters
Director-general of the Ministry of Primary Industries Ray Smith. Director-general of the Ministry of Primary Industries Ray Smith.

The director-general of MPI has praised the dairy industry saying its performance in the past year has been tremendous.

Speaking to Dairy News from the Fieldays, Ray Smith noted the sector produced more milk per cow than it did previously and that was outstanding given that livestock numbers are down.

"Dairy has come through this amazingly well and you will see that growth continuing," he says.

Smith says the past 18 months have been challenging and stressful for everyone involved in the primary sector - both in government agencies and the private sector.

He says Covid has thrown up a whole new set of challenges especially around labour and logistics.

His main observation at Fieldays was that people were happy to get away from their day to day business and there was a good vibe amongst farmers and sector leaders.

"We gave a presentation on our programme - Fit for a Better World - and this was well attended and people came away happy that we as a sector had a plan to lift growth, sustainability and attract more NZers to work in the primary sector. Everyone was positive about the fact that we were working to lift all sectors and not trade anyone down," he says.

Smith says people realised that in these difficult times they were not alone.

More like this

Bikinis in cowshed

OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.

Editorial: Agri's mojo is back

OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.

Featured

People-first philosophy pays off

The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.

Farmer anger over Joy's social media post

A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.

From Nelson to Dairy Research: Amy Toughey’s Journey

Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.

AgFirst marks 30 years of agribusiness advice

AgFirst, New Zealand's largest independent agribusiness consultancy, is turning 30 - celebrating three decades of "trusted advice, practical solutions, and innovative thinking".

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Buttery prize

OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…

Gene Bill rumours

OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter