Bright future for primary sector
A primary sector think tank believes it's incredibly important for the NZ sector to grow exponentially and a big focus should be on developing exports in the 'wellness' space.
The Primary Sector Council believes it’s no longer appropriate to refer to “the primary sector”.
Primary Sector Council (PSC) chair Lain Jager claims "the primary sector" conjures up images of volume-driven extractive commodity production, which was no longer reflective of how New Zealand farming and would fail to attract the people and investment needed for future success.
“Reframing the sector as the ‘agriculture food and fibre sector of Aotearoa/New Zealand’ celebrates our high-value produce and the increasingly sophisticated farming processing and marketing systems and technologies we use.”
Jager said New Zealand’s economic challenge and opportunity is to position it to meet the demand for high-value food and fibres.
“Climate change, water scarcity and degradation, and pressure on biodiversity is the context for many of our consumers and our children. By owning our environmental responsibilities on carbon, water, biodiversity, we can lead the world in truly sustainable food and fibre production.”
Fears of a serious early drought in Hawke’s Bay have been allayed – for the moment at least.
There was much theatre in the Beehive before the Government's new Resource Management Act (RMA) reform bills were introduced into Parliament last week.
The government has unveiled yet another move which it claims will unlock the potential of the country’s cities and region.
The government is hailing the news that food and fibre exports are predicted to reach a record $62 billion in the next year.
The final Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction has delivered bad news for dairy farmers.
One person intimately involved in the new legislation to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) is the outgoing chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment, James Palmer, who's also worked in local government.

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