Global customers to fund new incentives for Fonterra farmers
Fonterra has announced new financial incentives for farmers who achieve on-farm emissions targets.
Meat and dairy products dominated the rise in total manufacturing sales for the September 2012 quarter, Statistics New Zealand says.
After adjusting for seasonal effects, the value of total manufacturing sales rose 1.6% ($370 million), led by the 9.3% ($612 million) increase in meat and dairy product manufacturing.
When price changes are removed, the volume of manufacturing sales rose 2.6%, also led by meat and dairy product manufacturing, up 13%.
"The volume increase in meat and dairy manufacturing is reflected in the rise of export volumes for dairy and meat products, with increases of 32% in dairy, and 15% in meat," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno says.
"Looking at the longer-term picture, the trend for manufacturing volumes has risen in the past year."
Without the meat and dairy industry contribution, the volume of manufacturing sales fell 1.4% in the September quarter.
"Despite this, the trend for sales volume, excluding the meat and dairy industry, has remained relatively flat for the last three years," Cardno says.
Eight of the other 12 manufacturing industries recorded falls in the September quarter. The other main movements this quarter were:
• metal product manufacturing, down 6.9%
• chemical, polymer, and rubber product manufacturing, up 7.3%
Commodity prices and interest rates play a huge role in shaping farmer confidence, but these factors are beyond their control, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre.
DairyNZ is supporting a proposed new learning model for apprenticeships and traineeships that would see training, education, and pastoral care delivered together to provide the best chance of success.
Two agritech companies have joined forces to help eliminate manual entry and save farmer time.
The recent squabble between the Cook Islands and NZ over their deal with China has added a new element of tension in the relationship between China and NZ.
The world is now amid potentially one of the most disruptive periods in world trade for a very long time.
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