Editorial: Taming Trump
OPINION: The world is bracing for a trade war between the two biggest economies.
Fresh milk opportunities in China should be explored among consumers there concerned about the quality of their water, says an agricultural expert.
Special trade envoy Mike Petersen says only about 10 years ago the dairy industry was saying we shouldn't be shipping fresh milk or milk with water in it. With freight costs it was more efficient to dry it for shipping around the world.
"But New Zealand's comparative advantage is water, and food is virtually water, and many countries now are importing food because they don't have enough water to grow their own," he says.
"We have to think about this smartly; there are real opportunities for us and people understand that the integrity of food production is important when you get it from a single source.
"In NZ the opportunity for us has to be in fresh products that can contain the water – that is part of the story."
The chair of Beef + Lamb NZ, Kate Acland says the rush appears to be on to purchase farms and convert them to forestry before new rules limiting this come into effect.
New Zealand farmers will face higher urea prices this year, mainly on the back of tight global supply and a weak Kiwi dollar.
Andy Caughey of Wool Impact says a lot of people in NZ have been saying it's crazy that we are not using natural fibres in our buildings and houses.
Former chief executive of Beef+Lamb New Zealand Scott Champion will head the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) from July.
Avian flu getting into New Zealand's poultry industry is the biosecurity threat that is most worrying for Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard.
The annual domestic utilisation of wool will double to 30,000 tonnes because of the edict that government agencies should use woollen fibre products in the construction of new and refurbished buildings.