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Agriculture Minister Todd McClay will be joined by Mark Patterson, Minister for Rural Communities and Associate Minister responsible for wool on the roadshow.
The Government is holding a national woolshed roadshow over the next three months to revitalise the wool sector.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay will be joined by Mark Patterson, Minister for Rural Communities and Associate Minister responsible for wool on the roadshow.
“Sheep farmers have long been the backbone of New Zealand’s farming communities,” says Patterson.
“Under my delegation as Minister responsible for wool I will be working with farmers to rebuild the industry into a strong sector that recognises the exporting and sustainability potential of the product.
“We will be engaging with small catchment groups from Northland to Southland meeting farmers in the woolsheds, and at the farm gate, to discuss grassroots solutions.”
McClay says sheep farmers continue to make an invaluable contribution to our primary sector and this government is committed to celebrating and supporting that.
This week McClay hosted bipartisan celebrations of National Lamb Day with industry representatives at Parliament to mark the anniversary of the first frozen lamb exports that left New Zealand in February.
McClay says the Government is focused on getting costs down for farmers.
“We recognise the challenges sheep farmers are facing in the current climate with the oversupply of Australian lamb flooding the market and driving global prices down; and the ongoing barriers faced across the wool sector.
“At the same time, we back our farmers who produce high-quality products that are sought globally.
“The Government recognises the red meat sector’s enduring resilience as an industry that has consistently contributed to New Zealand’s exporting portfolio, and understand we have an obligation to make sure we are not imposing any unnecessary costs on farmers.”
Work to reduce the previous government’s regulatory burden on farmers has already started, McClay says.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.
New Zealand avocado growers have received a major boost by securing a collective FernMark Licence for their exports.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says the US tariff decision appears to be based on a calculation of trade deficits, with countries running a surplus with the US moved to the higher rate.
With adverse weather set to rain down on the Top of the South, the Bay of Plenty and parts of Northland, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says farmers, foresters, and growers need to prepare for possible challenges.
A long running trade dispute between New Zealand and Canada over dairy access has been resolved.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
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