Displaying items by tag: editorial

THIS LATEST fiasco over meat shipments being held up on wharves in China raises the question of just how well the primary sector is being served by the Ministry for Primary Industry.

Vintage 2013 is now over and according to all reports it seems to have been a very good one for the sector. The first wines from the vintage have already appeared in the Wine Export Certification System and we expect May to be a very busy month for certifying 2013 wines as industry stocks are low.

LAST WEEK’S meeting in Dannevirke about the impacts of One Plan on dairy farmers was scary for a number of reasons.

A ‘MEATWAVE’ is sweeping the country in the form of a series of well-attended meetings where farmers have voiced their frustration at the state of the meat industry. 

FONTERRA IS facing a new reality in Australia.

NEWS THAT Miraka has signed a multimillion-dollar, joint-venture deal with Shanghai Pengxin to produce UHT milk shows how smart our small, entrepreneurial companies can be. 

AS FONTERRA last month announced a 33% surge in half-year net profit, its share price had another story to tell.

WHILE THE drought is terribly painful to many dairy farmers – essentially it’s ruined a bumper season – it has brought to the fore some issues worth considering.

AS MORE regions are declared drought zones farmers can only despair of ill-informed comment – mainly by non-farmers and big-city media – showing up the rural/urban divide. It’s a chasm. 

DAIRY FARMERS in the North Island are facing a stern test. Most regions haven’t had decent rain for two months, pasture has disappeared and milk production is at a trickle.