NZ Catchment Groups Thrive with ‘Source to Sea’ Approach
The most successful catchment groups in NZ are those that have 'a source to sea' approach.
A two-year project will help identify how New Zealand's apiculture sector sector can achieve sustainable growth.
It will be funded from the Ministry for Primary Industries' (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund for the project.
Apiculture NZ chief executive Karin Kos says the project's aim is to establish a strategic direction for NZ's apiculture sector by identifying 'actionable measures to enable sustainable value growth'.
"The sector experienced huge growth following the quick escalation in demand from international consumers for New Zealand's mānuka honey," Kos explains. "But in many ways the sector's response to meet that new demand has been unsustainable. Now is the time to understand how we can capitalise on the opportunities that have emerged, but at a rate that can be lasting, both for participants and the environment."
She says the honey industry welcomes the Government's support to help it realise that goal.
The work will look at opportunities to capture more value at all levels of the sector and understand what type of transformation, capability and innovation will be required to capture that value sustainably.
Kos says the funding will not only help to prepare a plan but support the initial implementation of projects deemed to be vital to delivering sustainable growth.
The proposed retrenchment of Heinz Wattied's manufacturing presenced in New Zealand will be a blow to the wallets of more than 200 Canterbury vegetable growers.
The cost of running a New Zealand farm is now 27% higher than it was before Covid, putting sustained pressure on profitability acrfoss the sector, according to new ANZ research.
Rural contractors are getting guidance on how to deal with recent rising fuel prices.
An Ōpunake farmer with a poor effluent system has been fined $35,000 with a discount on the penalty discarded after he charged at a Taranaki Regional Council officer inspecting the ‘systematic problems’ on his farm.
The horticulture sector is under threat because of vulnerabilities of the country's transport infrastructure, according to a report commissioned by a collective representing a range of groups in the sector.
Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dan Boulton says the meat processor wants to find ways of getting product destined for Middle East markets into those markets as opposed to try and place them elsewhere.

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