NZ Industry Craves Ag Graduates, Says Massey Professor
The industry is crying out for graduates with agricultural related degrees.
OPINION: Seeds of legume plants are being used to make dairy-free milk products by scientists at Massey University’s Palmerston North labs.
Radio NZ reports that the university is so confident about its technology that it is getting behind a new company that has its eyes on selling to the world.
For the past four years, scientists at Massey’s Riddet Institute have worked away at a fermentation process to extract plant-based milk from the seeds of legumes.
They have developed dairy-free creams and milk powders, and the university, through Massey Ventures, was a large shareholder of new company Andfoods, that has raised $2.7 million to get itself off the ground. A chunk of that was from Icehouse Ventures, a New Zealand venture capital firm.
Ballance Agrinutrients chief executive Kelvin Wickham says despite a tough year, he is pleased the business has returned to profit.
When Northland farmer Mark Cameron entered parliament six years ago, the Beehive was a lonely place.
Speculation of a possible joint move by Fonterra and a2 Milk to buy Synlait raises a much bigger strategic question, says agribusiness expert Dr Nic Lees.
I think it's going to greatly weaken National at the election. That's the view of a former senior National MP on the recent attempted coup against Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Despite political shenanigans in Wellington, farmers are confident that Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms will get over the line in this term of Parliament.
New Zealand's pest problem has reached crisis point, according to Federated Farmers' second National Pests Survey, which shows farmers are spending more money and effort on control — yet pest numbers keep climbing faster than they were two years ago.