Crazy
OPINION: Your canine crusader was truly impressed by the almost unanimous support given by politicians of all stripes in Parliament to the recent passing of legislation for the NZ/EU free trade deal.
Labour spokesman on primary industries, Damien O’Connor says while the dairy developments at Taupo are impressive it’s important the Crown is not exposed to major debt such as that of Solid Energy.
However O’Connor says he’s impressed with Landcorp’s focus on low cost production systems.
He says the dairy industry in general at present is lacking an overall strategic direction and individuals are making potentially risky decisions.
“There are some players in the industry who are intensifying their systems while others are more cautions and probably winding back their production,” he says.
“That leads to the question of processing capacity in terms of the wider industry and I don’t think anyone would want to see the dairy end up with a meat industry situation where we have excess capacity.”
He notes a number of foreign investors are becoming involved in the dairy processing industry to vertically integrate their systems.
There is real risk of over-capacity becoming a reality in the dairy sector, he says. While some commentators are encouraging farmers to increase production, farmers who don’t focus on profit will go broke and additional production alone doesn’t develop a better outcome.
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
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.
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.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.