PGG Wrightson Revenue Tops $1.1b as Profit Jumps 46%
After delivering a strong financial year, rural trader PGG Wrightson says the coming months will depend on customer confidence and weather.
Meat and dairy products dominated the rise in total manufacturing sales for the September 2012 quarter, Statistics New Zealand says.
After adjusting for seasonal effects, the value of total manufacturing sales rose 1.6% ($370 million), led by the 9.3% ($612 million) increase in meat and dairy product manufacturing.
When price changes are removed, the volume of manufacturing sales rose 2.6%, also led by meat and dairy product manufacturing, up 13%.
"The volume increase in meat and dairy manufacturing is reflected in the rise of export volumes for dairy and meat products, with increases of 32% in dairy, and 15% in meat," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno says.
"Looking at the longer-term picture, the trend for manufacturing volumes has risen in the past year."
Without the meat and dairy industry contribution, the volume of manufacturing sales fell 1.4% in the September quarter.
"Despite this, the trend for sales volume, excluding the meat and dairy industry, has remained relatively flat for the last three years," Cardno says.
Eight of the other 12 manufacturing industries recorded falls in the September quarter. The other main movements this quarter were:
• metal product manufacturing, down 6.9%
• chemical, polymer, and rubber product manufacturing, up 7.3%
Testing confirms H5 bird flu in a single northern giant petrel, found dead on a remote Cape Palliser beach in the Wairarapa, says Dr Mary van Andel, the Ministry for Primary Industries' (MPI) Chief Veterinary Officer.
"What's for dinner?" may sound like a simple question, but for many Kiwi parents, answering it has become a job in itself.
Fifty Eight years ago, on the 16th of August 1968, August Claas, the founder of the harvesting company and father of Helmut Claas, personally presented a Claas Senator combine harvester to Scottish farmer John Steven.
New Zealand consumers are paying more for beef mince than ever before, with the average retail price now sitting above $24 per kilogram, according to Rabobank.
State farmer Pamu has delivered its strongest operating result on record.
Four years since it was first detected in New Zealand, researchers and growers now know much more about management of maize pest fall armyworm (FAW).

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