Organic dairy co-op files for liquidation
A co-operative touted as New Zealand's only 100% farmer-owned organic milk producer has gone bust.
New Zealand now has a rural/urban chasm rather than a gap, according to the KPMG Agribusiness Agenda released last week at Fieldays.
The report says while the farming industry has done a good job appealing to the minds of people, it has done little to appeal to their emotions.
Report author Ian Proudfoot says the easiest way to do this is to make an emotional connection with food. He says the word ‘food’ – unlike farming – can make much more of an emotional link with people. Proudfoot claims uncertainty surrounding the values of many primary sector organisations means the wider community don’t believe their claims.
“The messaging that came through in this year’s agenda – very clearly – was ‘swimmable’ means swimmable -- not by 2040 and not to a scientific standard.
“This is how somebody sitting in our office in Auckland today would understand it. We can’t keep trying to win these arguments with statistics of science, when these are emotive arguments.”
The 85-page agenda report is crammed with insightful, futuristic gems about what NZ should and could do to win public and consumer confidence and for the sector to take a greater slice of high-value consumer markets.
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.
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