Red meat rebound
The red meat sector is poised for a strong rebound this season, with export receipts forecast to top $10 billion and farm profitability to almost double.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand wants changes made to the stock exclusion regulations the Government introduced in August 2020 - specifically the low-slope map.
"Our position has been clear all along - we want the inaccurate low-slope map to be deleted and replaced with a general rule that regional councils would be empowered to give effect to," BLNZ chief executive Sam McIvor says.
The Government's current low-slope map identifies thousands of hectares of steep land as low-slope which therefore is required to be fenced. "Tinkering around the edges of the unworkable and inaccurate national-scale map won't get the right outcomes - we need regional approaches."
McIvor says the Government's decision to support an industry-led Intensive Winter Grazing (IWG) module to farm plans in the coming year and to delay the implementation of the winter grazing rules shows that arbitrary rules are not the right approach. "We have been very clear that farmers need workable and relevant rules and have been advocating for effects-based approaches at the paddock scale to both IWG and to stock exclusion, delivered through effective farm planning."
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
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