MPI Opens $3m Greenhouse Gas Research Funding Round
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has announced has opened applications for the 2026/27 funding round of the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research (GHGIR) fund.
MPI director-general Ray Smith say recovery for the red meat sector will take approximately two years.
MPI director-general Ray Smith acknowledges the tough times that sheep and beef farmers are going through in terms of loss of profitability and says he's been to many of the regions hammered by weather events. He describes the situation as heartbreaking.
"But I want them to hang on to is the fact that all the indicators are that we will return to a positive position," he says.
Smith says recovery for the red meat sector will take about two years, but the worst is over and prices are starting to come back. But he believes when they do come back, they will not be at the same high level as they were.
He says there are many positive things going on for the red meat sector. He notes NZ protein is still sought after by the growing middle classes in our markets and believes that because of our farming systems, climate change will have less impact on our farmers than our competitors.
"Our production system is highly efficient it doesn't rely on a whole lot of imported feed or other grown feed, and I think that will give us an advantage over the countries that we compete with," he says.
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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