West Coast farm looks a picture on new packaging
Images of Graeme McNabb’s farm on the West Coast will soon be hitting supermarket shelves around the world.
Grass-fed meat out of New Zealand is the “caviar of the future”, says Stu Chapman, who stepped down this month as Elders NZ managing director after 21 years with the company.
Agriculture in NZ has a big future, says Chapman.
“We are a food bowl, there is no doubt,” he told Rural News. “We must protect our biosecurity; we need to protect our borders and the fact that we are seen as a supplier of quality food through different parts of the world.
“We need to make sure we hang onto that NZ Inc brand because we are not a low cost producer any more.
“There are a lot of countries around the world that can produce that same product cheaper than us but we have a reputation as delivering quality safe products.”
Chapman says he can’t remember the last time sheepmeat, beef meat and wool were well ahead of dairy, as they are now.
The red meat sector in NZ has bright prospects. “Grass-fed meat out of NZ is potentially the caviar of the future,” he says.
“So for me the sheep and cattle future looks extremely bright and exciting.”
Now in its fourth year, the 2026 Fencing Industry Awards, formed part of the proceedings of the FCANZ Conference, held in Nelson during August.
DairyNZ deputy chair Cameron Henderson has been re-appointed unopposed for another term.
OPINION: The stats speak for themselves.
Farms across the upper North Island are trialling different pasture mixes as part of a research programme that aims to build greater resilience into farming systems.
Election years are always a concerning time for farmers, according to DairyNZ chair Tracy Brown.
The Ballance Farm Environment Awards are coming to the West Coast of the South Island.

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