Methane campaign is 100% politics
OPINION: We are endlessly told that livestock are responsible for half of New Zealand's total emissions.
Farmers must focus on productivity and profitability – not necessarily production, says Beef + Lamb NZ chief executive Scott Champion.
Speaking to Rural News at BLNZ’s ‘Ag Innovation’ day in Palmerston North last week, he noted that if farmers increased production but their costs went up accordingly, they would not walk away with any more money.
The event, which attracted about 200 people, was to give farmers an insight into what’s happening globally to the products they produce, and the changes in consumer preferences and market and scientific trends. Farmers must get their heads around these issues, Champion says.
BLNZ wants to make farmers aware of the science and management techniques being developed in New Zealand to help make farming more profitable.
Champion says farmers must get a handle on the power and influence of some of the new technologies now used extensively to communicate with consumers about products. “Do they have to be part of Twitter or have an Instagram account? Probably not, but some young farmers are using these things and understanding they exist is important,” he says.
Champion is urging farmers to be a part of the ‘story-telling’ process of getting across to consumers and buyers some of the unique features about farming in NZ. This is telling the world about our farming systems, such as the fact that we grass-feed all our animals and treat them well.
“It’s valuable for offshore markets – agents and distributors, consumers or retailers or whatever they might be. Farmers are not typically the people they meet every day and they find their story fascinating because it’s so different to them.” – Peter Burke
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.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.