Speedy chair
OPINION: Federated Farmers and its members don’t have much love for regulations-obsessed regional councils.
OPINION: Part of the reason China is buying less of our dairy produce is their success growing their own supply.
It increased its self-sufficiency in milk production by 11 million metric tons/year from 2018 to 2023, or effectively as much as Australia’s current annual production.
China’s annual domestic production is now in the order of 40 billion litres of milk.
The country’s WMP imports plunged from an average of 820,000 metric tons in 2021 to a mere 430,000 metric tons in 2023.
More than half of that drop was at NZ’s expense – the downside to being the biggest supplier of WMP to China.
Aussie and Kiwi farmers once got good money for Friesian heifers to the China live export market but it certainly helped boost growth of their domestic supply.
Six of New Zealand’s top young horticulturalists will put their skills to the test in the national Young Grower of the Year final in Hastings next week.
If there is a maize grain shortage next season, farmers will have to look for an alternative and that may not be easy.
Fonterra chair Peter McBride warns that the future looks increasingly competitive - both in New Zealand and internationally.
From August each year a special group of 'helpers' descend on Julie and Brian Pirie's farm at Ngatea in the Hauraki Plains.
A game changer and a huge boost for farmer confidence.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) has appointed Alan Thomson as its new chief executive.
OPINION: Federated Farmers and its members don’t have much love for regulations-obsessed regional councils.
OPINION: Part of the reason China is buying less of our dairy produce is their success growing their own supply.