Blank Canvas rides white wine wave as New Zealand wine sales soar in China
If you find a new consumer in a developed wine market, you are taking them from someone else, says Blank Canvas co-founder Sophie Parker-Thomson MW.
Ministry for Primary Industries director general Ray Smith remains optimistic about the long-term future of the dairy industry.
Smith told Dairy News that the sector is on the road to recovery, but warns that it could be another 18 months before it gets back to a position which looks like normal.
The big imponderable in the recovery is what happens in China. There are reports its milk production is increasing, albeit at a lower rate now than a year ago, and that there has been a decline in NZ exports there, which is expected to continue in the coming year.
He also points out there will continue to be more competition in the markets.
"But remember, its middle class is still rising and so I think what we will see in countries like China where this is happening, is an increasing demand for protein. So, NZ has got a place in there and our dairy industry has got a range of products that it supplies into the market.
"And don't forget, the NZ dairy sector has access to around 160 markets and it's quite good at moving the product around to get the best value they can," he says.
At present, NZ is enjoying a mild winter which has helped regions like the Manawatū get back on their feet after an awful late summer and autumn. Again, an imponderable for the dairy industry is a prediction from NIWA that we may get another El Nino system later this year.
But Smith says the positive side is that this spell of good weather was never predicted, so one can only hope.
An independent report, prepared for Alliance farmer shareholders is backing the proposed $250 million joint venture investment by Irish company Dawn Meats Group.
Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.
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).
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