China No Longer Just A Commodity Story - Luxon
China remains New Zealand’s biggest market, taking $23 billion of our exports, but it’s no longer a commodity story, says Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Beef exports are up 46%($61 million) in August 2015 compared with August 2014, says Statistics New Zealand.
"With one month to go in the 2014/15 beef export season, beef exports are at a new high of $3 billion," says international statistics senior manager, Jason Attewell.
"So far this season, 404,000 tonnes of beef have been exported, and if we export at least 18,000 tonnes next month we'll surpass the peak 2003/04 season for quantity exported."
The US remains our top beef export destination this season, for both value and quantity.
Beef export values to the US have hit a record high of $1.6 billion (up 64%) for the season to date, with quantities up 21% compared with this time last year.
Beef export values to China continued to increase, up 88% for the season to date, to $394 million, with quantities up 52% compared with this time last year. "International shortages, rising production, and a falling New Zealand dollar have contributed to this record beef season." says Attewell.
New Zealand dairy farmers are set to be the first in the world to receive access to a new digital physical milk pricing tool that enables them to fix the price for their physical milk.
State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.
A five-year study has found that the cost of reducing emissions without technology may be significant and unsustainable for Northland dairy farmers.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
While the Government has moved quickly to make commercial hauliers' lot easier during the current fuel crisis, they appear to be stuck in the creep box when it comes to the agricultural industry.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.

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