increase font size
Apiculture NZ chair Bruce Wills.
Apiculture NZ says the future focus of the industry is finding markets for what is seen as a glut of honey.
Chair Bruce Wills says the industry's recent three-day conference was a mixture of positive news and challenges. But it was honey exports that took centre stage.
In the year ended 2020, New Zealand earned $505 million from honey exports, but the outlook for this season is not good. In MPI's (Ministry for Primary Industries) latest report on the state of the primary sector, the bad news is spelt out with honey exports predicted to be down almost $1 million by 2025.
However, the problem is worse, with an estimated 20,000 tonnes of unsold honey being held in beekeepers' sheds around the country. This honey mountain is equivalent to about a year of production.
Will says this all goes back to the controversy over what is and isn't mānuka honey.
"The price of the honey that didn't meet the mānuka criteria crashed and a bunch of beekeepers have said they will keep this in their shed because they are not prepared to sell at the low price."
Wills says the mānuka boom also saw a dramatic rise in hive numbers and these now stand at about 900,000.
The value for pollination and other bee products is estimated at about $5 billion.
A big shakeup in the honey sector is about to take place with the news that the industry good body, ApiNZ, and the export focused Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association are looking to merge to form a new industry body.
Thousands of honey retailers and professionals worldwide are getting a taste of the remarkable properties of New Zealand mānuka honey.
After three years of record performance, mānuka honey exporter and retailer Comvita has reported an annual net loss of $77 million.
Bee awareness month - September - ended on a high for the struggling apiculture sector.
Ravensdown chair Bruce Wills has been returned unopposed as a North Island director for another three-year term.
The 2025 South Island Agricultural Field Days (SIAFD) chairman, Rangiora farmer Andrew Stewart, is predicting a successful event on the back of good news coming out of the farming sector and with it a greater level of optimism among farmers.
WorkSafe New Zealand is calling on farmers to consider how vehicles move inside their barns and sheds, following a sentencing for a death at one of South Canterbury’s biggest agribusinesses.
Now is not the time to stop incorporating plantain into dairy pasture systems to reduce nitrogen (N) loss, says Agricom Australasia brand manager Mark Brown.
Building on the success of last year's events, the opportunity to attend People Expos is back for 2025, offering farmers the chance to be inspired and gain more tips and insights for their toolkits to support their people on farm.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients fertiliser SustaiN – which contains a urease inhibitor that reduces the amount of ammonia released to the air – has now been registered by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI). It is the first fertiliser in New Zealand to achieve this status.
Precision application of nitrogen can improve yields, but the costs of testing currently outweigh improved returns, according to new research from Plant and Food Research, MPI and Ravensdown.
OPINION: Henry Dimbleby, author of the UK's Food Strategy, recently told the BBC: "Meat production is about 85% of our…
OPINION: For the last few weeks, we've witnessed a parade of complaints about New Zealand's school lunch program: 'It's arriving…
