by Nick Clark, Group Manager National Policy A bumper auction This week’s Global Dairy Trade was a strong one, with the GDT Price Index jumping 4.6% compared to the previous event a fortnight ago. All products on offer increased in price with whole milk powder, by far the biggest by volume, up 5.6%, skim milk […]
Politics
Stretched rural contractors taken past breaking point
Stressed rural contractors, told in mid-December they could bring in 200 more skilled machinery operators, have not yet seen a single arrival given any MIQ space. Rural Contractors NZ CEO Andrew Olsen says despite the best efforts of MPI staff to help find MIQ beds for the approved operators, the indications now are that few, […]
Economic Week – January 14
by Nick Clark, Group Manager National Policy Happy New Year and welcome back. Here is Feds’ first economic update for 2022. Plenty in it as it’s been four weeks since our last one for 2021. Banking Survey Just before Christmas we released results from our November 2021 Banking Survey. Overall, they were relatively positive, with […]
Report trumpets scope for ice cream exports
Latest research into our premium ice cream industry suggests exporters could find new buyers in valuable overseas markets as consumers increasingly look for tip top quality in food. Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash has released a new report for the Food and Beverage Information Project. The project is run by government agencies MBIE, MPI and […]
Feds survey shows slight uptick in farmer-bank relationship
Farmers are feeling slightly more satisfied with the relationships with their banks but interest rates are starting to rise and some are reporting a tougher attitude from lenders. Results from the November Federated Farmers Banking Survey show 67 percent of the more than 900 respondents are satisfied with their bank relationship, up 5.5 points on […]
Chinese energy restrictions will add strain to the supply chain
by Mark Ross, CEO Agcarm A nation of intense manufacturing activities combined with ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions has forced China to make drastic policy changes, resulting in strict measures to control energy supply. The global market will be caught in the crossfire of China’s measures to reduce its environmental footprint, with ambitious goals […]
Border exceptions the first step in the process
Federated Farmers is pleased to see the Government has approved border class exceptions for a number of international agricultural workers for early 2022. The border exceptions will allow approved workers to assist with the shearing and arable sectors over their peak busy period. The Government has also made some changes to the current dairy worker […]
Report confirms trend of carbon farms cannabalising pastoral farming
The latest analysis of farm sales data confirms the increasing price of carbon in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is driving the conversion of whole pastoral farms into forestry, particularly for carbon farming. Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is tracking data on farm sales for conversion into forestry as concerns continue to grow over […]
Economic Week – 17 December
by Nick Clark, Manager National Policy A bumper issue this week with a flood of economic data. This will be my last economic update for the year. It’ll be back in the New Year. In the meantime, I wish readers a happy and relaxing Christmas and holiday period – and a prosperous 2022. GDP falls […]
New Zealand food and fibre exports forecast to hit a record $50.8 billion
Food and fibre export revenue is projected to surge to a record $50.8 billion in the year to 30 June 2022 – an increase of 6 percent over the previous year. “This is the first time New Zealand’s annual food and fibre export revenue will crack $50 billion – a result we should all be […]