She's dreamin'!
OPINION: Your old mate suggests the demise of former Beef+Lamb NZ chair Andrew Morrison has done little to change that organisation’s poor understanding about how its farmers are really feeling.
The red meat sector has published an election manifesto to help offer decision-makers a complete understanding of the sector.
Read more about the manifesto here.
Beef+Lamb NZ chair Andrew Morrison says sometimes people take the industry for granted and don’t realise how significant its contribution is to New Zealand’s local and export economy.
The manifesto, which has been put together jointly by B+LNZ and the Meat Industry Association, is designed to show the extent of the industry from behind the farm gate through to the processing and exporting business.
Morrison says the industry is a “quiet achiever” and may be sometimes seen “as a bunch of people in homespun jerseys with some barking dogs”.
However, he says, in reality the red meat sector is a finely tuned, successful business.
“When you look at the productivity gains the sector has made, the market diversification, the training we offer and the number of people employed in the sector, it is important that we draw this to people’s attention,” Morrison told Rural News.
“It is also important to remind people that the ag sector, as a whole, accounts for 66% of NZ’s export revenues. Sometimes people kind of forget that so it’s good to remind them.” he says.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.