Meat, wool and hort big winners in Indian FTA
Primary sector leaders have welcomed the announcement of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
At the opening of a new state-of-the-art methane research facility in the Waikato today, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said that Livestock Improvement Corporation's (LIC) new 'Methane Barn' will enable large-scale monitoring and measurement of methane produced by lactating cows.
"The research will enable farmers to select lower-emitting genetics and will be a valuable tool to help reduce biogenic methane without harming productivity," McClay says.
He says the research further bolsters confidence in the pipeline of new mitigation tools - giving farmers the choice in how they reduce their emissions.
"We are committed to meeting our climate obligations without closing down farms and sending jobs and production overseas," McClay says.
"Investments like the Methane Barn will offer farmers the tools they need to reduce on-farm emissions without reducing production," he adds.
The Government and industry have committed more than $400 million to speed up the development of methane-cutting tools with as many as 11 to be commercially available by 2030.
Additional tariffs introduced by the Chinese Government last month on beef imports should favour New Zealand farmers and exporters.
Primary sector leaders have praised the government and its officials for putting the Indian free trade deal together in just nine months.
Primary sector leaders have welcomed the announcement of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and New Zealand.
Dairy farmers are still in a good place despite volatile global milk prices.
Legal controls on the movement of fruits and vegetables are now in place in Auckland’s Mt Roskill suburb, says Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis.
Arable growers worried that some weeds in their crops may have developed herbicide resistance can now get the suspected plants tested for free.

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