Election 2026: How Parties Would Lift the Arable Sector
As part of its Election 2026 coverage, Rural News asked political parties how they would help pull the arable sector out of the doldrums. Here's what they said:
World demand for protein, high-quality food products and the impact of new trade agreements plus a soft NZ dollar are the reasons why these exports reached $65.2 billion to the end of June 2026 – a billion more than MPI had predicted in its June forecast and also well ahead of the $63.8 billion forecast for the 2026/27 year.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay told Rural News that hitting $65.2 billion is an exceptional outcome.
Meat and wool are the biggest contributors to the latest increase reaching $14.8 billion as opposed to the $14.1 earlier predicted.
McClay says in the year to 30 June, food and fibre exports to the European Union were up 20% to $5.3 billion. Exports to the United Arab Emirates rose 11% to $1.1 billion.
“Our trade deals are delivering for Kiwi exporters as we work towards doubling the value of NZ’s exports by 2034,” he says.
McClay says NZ is becoming much better at marketing premium rather than commodity products and this movement up the value chain is being reflected in the latest figures.
“People buy from us because of our provenance. They like the story we tell including the fact that our cows are out on the grass and sheep up on the hills. But we must protect that point of difference from other countries who may try to make similar claims,” he says
McClay says NZ is meeting the needs of niche consumers such as those in China where there are five million younger people who are very wealthy but don’t have kitchens in their homes and want ready-to-cook products that NZ companies are producing.
