Winter grazing warning
Every time people from overseas see photographs of cows up to their hocks in mud it's bad for New Zealand.
Ray Smith says MPI has re-organised their part of the business which deals with market access and FTAs.
While MFAT plays the lead role in these, MPI provides much of the backroom data and technical information which back up such negotiations.
Clearly the spotlight is on India and Smith says MPI has been very active in building up the relationship with that country.
"We have had their National Dairy Development Board over here and that went incredibly well. We have been speaking at dairy related conferences in India. We think of India as a big and potential market where there are challenges and we are looking at what we can offer them in a potential deal," he says.
According to Smith, one option is to build relationships by helping them increase the productivity of their industry. He says NZ has a lot of know-how which could be of benefit to India.
The other reason for the re-organisation of the 'market access and trade areas' of MPI, says Smith, is to put more effort into helping farmers and others in the primary sector to get the maximum benefit out of existing FTAs and other trade agreements. He says such agreements are complex and the goal is to set out in simple terms the potential benefits.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the relationship between New Zealand and the US will remain strong and enduring irrespective of changing administrations.
More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) says securing more China label registrations and developing its own nutritional manufacturing capability are high on its agenda.
Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.
As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.
Livestock can be bred for lower methane emissions while also improving productivity at a rate greater than what the industry is currently achieving, research has shown.
OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.
OPINION: The Listener's latest piece on winter grazing among Southland dairy farmers leaves much to be desired.