THE NEW McDonalds ‘Serious Lamb Burger’, launched last week in New Zealand, could soon find itself on menus around the world – a great move for Kiwi producers, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive Rod Slater.

MAKING SURE none of the rhinoceros herd is poached during the night isn’t something New Zealand farmers have to worry about but it is typical for an increasing number of South African farmers diversifying into the lucrative game breeding industry.

iFarm's price projections for beef remain fairly similar to last month. This is despite factoring a higher NZ dollar through the rest of the outlook period.

Both beef and lamb schedule prices in the North Island are under pressure at a time when prices are typically on the rise.  

More than a third, 36%, of farmers expect the agricultural economy to worsen in the next 12 months, according to a June quarter confidence survey by Rabobank.

When LFTB or "pink slime" was taken off the market (a substitute for lean beef) end users had to fill the void. Demand for US domestic fresh soared

Federated Farmers is welcoming Beef+Lamb NZ's Economic Service confirming declines in the national sheep flock and beef herd may now be at an end. It also confirms the North Island has become the dominant island for both sheep and beef.

Sheep and beef numbers for year ending June 2012 are up, says the Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) Economic Service.

The iFarm lamb procurement indicator measures the current lamb farmgate price as a percentage of the UK leg price when brought back into NZ dollars.

Droughts in the US are forcing farmers to slaughter more stock and this is dragging down US domestic beef prices.