Arla targets $25b in total revenue
European dairy co-operative Arla Foods is forecasting a total revenue of nearly $25 billion this year.
If the Brexit goes ahead New Zealand could lose its best ally in its struggle against European agricultural protectionism, says an agronomics expert.
With Britons going to the polls this week to vote on whether to stay as part of the European Union (EU), Professor of Agricultural Economics Alan Renwick, who left Ireland in 2015 to come to Lincoln, says New Zealand could be at the mercy of self-interested powerful lobby groups in the EU.
"The United Kingdom (UK) has been a strong force for moderating the excesses of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), one of the banes of New Zealand agricultural life," Professor Renwick says.
The CAP provides subsidies for EU farmers to maintain food security.
"With the UK away from the table what sort of protectionist policies will emerge from the French and others?" he asks.
"Two years ago I listened to the UK High Commissioners arguments for a NZ-EU trade deal. These talks are now underway.
"But will a British exit shift this down the agenda whilst they deal with the fall out?"
He says global market uncertainty will affect New Zealand also.
"How long will it take to resolve what it would look like and how volatile markets will be?
"We are all likely to lose from such volatility," Renwick says.
Britain is no longer a major export market itself, he adds, so if it pulls out of the EU it does not mean New Zealand will have to change its focus.
Only a small percentage of our exported goods go to the United Kingdom. China, Japan, Australia and the United States have all become more significant.
Renwick says many New Zealand businesses are based in Britain, so they might have to move to countries like Germany to remain at the heart of the EU.
The EU as a whole is still an important export destination for New Zealand even though its overall share in exports has been declining, he says.
An independent report, prepared for Alliance farmer shareholders is backing the proposed $250 million joint venture investment by Irish company Dawn Meats Group.
Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.
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).
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