"Our" business?
OPINION: One particular bone the Hound has been gnawing on for years now is how the chattering classes want it both ways when it comes to the success of NZ's dairy industry.
The Irish dairy industry is keeping a close eye on New Zealand's dairy dilemmas as it ramps up its own production with quota restrictions now gone, a Lincoln expert says.
Professor of Agricultural Economics, Alan Renwick, recently joined Lincoln from University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland.
He says high debt levels, Fonterra's challenges, and the movement away from grass-fed production methods here, are capturing Irish attention.
With quotas now removed in Europe, by the end of 2014 $4.53b had been invested in new production facilities for dried dairy products in Europe, mainly in Ireland, North West France, Netherlands, and Denmark.
Professor Renwick says leading up to the removal of quotas, much in Ireland was made of the fact that in 1984, when they were implemented, Ireland and New Zealand produced roughly similar quantities of milk, and production had been growing at a significant rate.
Due to quotas, Ireland remained at that level, around 6 billion litres for nearly 30 years, while production in New Zealand increased fourfold, so Irish eyes have been turned south to see how.
However, everything is not seen as positive.
The high levels of debt in New Zealand are used as a warning to the Irish industry as it develops post quota, he says.
"A strength in Ireland is the low indebtedness of Irish farms. There is concern that expansion will lead to increases in debt and the vulnerability of businesses."
Ireland also has a much more fragmented processing sector than New Zealand and much had been made of the Fonterra model and that Ireland should try and emulate this, he adds.
"However, recognition of the challenges facing Fonterra, and the success due to innovation of some of the Irish cooperative businesses, have raised questions in the minds of those in the sector whether actually smaller more flexible businesses may not be so bad after all."
Like New Zealand, much is also made in Ireland of sticking with the grass based seasonal system aimed at keeping forage costs at a minimum.
However, commentators feel New Zealand is moving too far from its core strength, grass production, and therefore in danger of losing its competitive advantage.
He says Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) have invested heavily in developing and promoting their sustainability programme, Origin Green.
"This is which particularly relevant to the recent events in New Zealand as it has a strong focus on Animal Health and Welfare."
Asia is also increasingly becoming the market of choice.
"With EU markets stagnant, or declining, much of the new production from Ireland is targeted at the same markets as New Zealand's production.
"Origin Green ambassadors, working with Irish companies, are being placed in markets across the globe to develop the sustainability message."
Increasingly, he says, they are also investing heavily in trying to improve understanding of the needs of Asian customers, and are supported by recognition in Asia of the strength of EU Food Safety legislation and practices.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…
OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…