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Special trade envoy and meat farmer Mike Petersen.
Guy Wrigley, Federated Farmers arable industry chairman, said the prospect of plant-based protein foods should not be cause for alarm.
A new survey reveals alternative proteins are both an opportunity and a threat to New Zealand.
For example, he says in Canterbury where land is suitable for red meat, dairy or arable production, alternative protein sources could easily fit into the farming mosaic.
“But in the meantime, we also have a very strong alliance with traditional protein sources that remain in demand, namely dairy, poultry and pork, which all rely on the arable sector for grain supplies.”
Beef + Lamb NZ special trade envoy and meat farmer Mike Petersen said he also sees in the alternative protein market as many opportunities as threats.
Bayleys national country manager Duncan Ross said the rise of alternative proteins should not worry farmers, but instead prompt them to consider getting other income as a result of those opportunities.
“Ultimately it is all about protein sources, and we may even see land that was once used for dairying or beef head into crop production for these products,” he says.
“[That could be] without necessarily suffering any loss in capital value or income reduction; in fact the opposite may be true in the long term as demand increases for these products.”
Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers arable chair, Bevan Lill, said Beef + Lamb NZ data indicated that for the last six years, the average arable return on investment was about 0.8% while inflation ran about 4% - so the average arable farm was going backwards at about 3% a year.
For the first time in a quarter of a century, Federated Farmers has something positive to say about the Labour Party’s climate change policy leading into a general election.
Rural leader Mark Hooper has been appointed as an independent director to the NZPork board, bringing extensive farming, governance and advocacy experience to the role.
The terrible floods that hit the Wairarapa may have subsided, but the danger to farmers still exists, according to local Federated Farmers president Rob Hickson.
Will a stronger, more coordinated voice help rebuild confidence and improve returns in the wool sector?
New Zealand's citrus growers were challenged to build their future on the value embedded in their fruit rather than the volume they produce, at Citrus New Zealand's annual gathering in Gisborne on 17 September.
Leading John Deere technicians and apprentices from New Zealand and Australians were recognised at the recent sixth annual JD Technician of the Year Awards, held in Brisbane.
In Dacre, near Invercargill in New Zealand’s South Island, Bruce Dinnington is running a dairy operation unlike any other.
A free online platform aggregating governance vacancies across rural and regional New Zealand has been launched.
Environment Minister Nicola Grigg has announced details of a new rural plastics recycling scheme.
Agricultural drone operators say that a government decision to allow lower-risk drone work without certification won’t lower standards but drive innovation and efficiency.
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