Season's first kiwifruit China bound
Zespri's first charter shipment of the 2024 New Zealand kiwifruit season is on its way to Shanghai.
New Zealand’s food and fibre exports for the year ending June 2022 leapt to $53.3 billion.
The result is $1.1 billion above the $52.2 billion forecast in this year’s Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI) report, which predicted the primary sector continuing to make a profit despite a challenging year.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says the result is a testament to the efforts of New Zealand’s farmers, growers, foresters, fishers and processors.
“The June quarter saw a strong finish to what we’d already forecast to be a record year for exports,” O’Connor says. “Meat and dairy led the charge in bringing an additional $1.1 billion into our economy.”
He says the data also showed seafood and horticulture exports surpassing the 2021 exports.
“Food and fibre exports made up 81.4 percent of New Zealand’s total exports in the year to 30 June 2022,” O’Connor says.
“In the two years since COVID-19 came knocking on our doors, I believe that, collectively, we’ve done a terrific job keeping the wheels of the economy turning.”
He says the sector has also responded to other challenges, like the current weather events at the top of the South Island, which O’Connor says he is watching closely.
“I’d like to acknowledge the sectors’ ongoing efforts and congratulate them on a job well done. It’s helping provide New Zealand’s economic security in challenging times.”
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
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