Hawke's Bay to the world
Rockit chief executive Mark O'Donnell says consumer awareness for the brand continues to improve each year.
The exchange rate is unjustified and unsustainable and could tumble, says the Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler.
Wheeler says the exchange rate is susceptible to a significant downward adjustment.
He says the bank will welcome a move towards a more sustainable exchange rate level.
The high exchange rate has been a sticking point for exporters. However, the value of the Kiwi dollar has dropped sharply in recent months- from US88c in July to around US80c this week.
In a statement today, Wheeler said that, when assessing the implications of current strength or weakness in the New Zealand dollar, the Bank focuses on two broad concepts – whether the exchange rate is unjustified, and whether it is unsustainable.
The level of the exchange rate is unjustified when it is inconsistent with the economic factors that typically explain its movement during the business cycle. It is unsustainable when it deviates from its long-run equilibrium level, where it would be expected to settle when business cycle factors have fully dissipated.
"The Bank's analysis indicates that the real exchange rate is well above its sustainable level, and also above levels justified by short-term business cycle factors," Wheeler says.
"Unjustified and unsustainable are important considerations in assessing whether exchange rate intervention is feasible. Another consideration is whether conditions in the foreign exchange markets are conducive to intervention having an impact on the exchange rate.
"The real exchange rate has not adjusted materially to the recent downward movement in commodity prices."
For example, global dairy prices have fallen by 45% since February 2014. Despite this, in August, New Zealand's real effective exchange rate was 1% higher than its February 2014 level.
Wheeler says that past experience suggests that, when the New Zealand dollar begins declining from an unjustified and unsustainable level, the ultimate adjustment can be large.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.