Bulk wine exports surpass packaged wine volumes
Data from February 2025 shows volumes of bulk wine exports exceeded packaged wine.
The Director General of MPI, Ray Smith, says the growth in the kiwifruit sector is a massive bounce back.
In MPI's latest outlook report, kiwifruit exports in 2025 will hit nearly $3.5 billion which Smith says is amazing given the problems including adverse weather the sector has had to deal with in the past couple of years.
"Issues such labour shortages, fruit quality issues and ongoing adverse weather conditions. They have done an amazing job despite all the problems they have faced," he says.
Smith says horticulture is now NZ's third largest export earner, having pushed forestry into 4th place and chasing down the meat and wool sector which earns just over $11 billion.
He says another highlight in the SOPI report is the apple sector with export earnings now sitting at just over $1 billion.
He says but for Cyclone Gabrielle, they may well have achieved this goal earlier.
He says people like our apples and see them as a good healthy product.
"With kiwifruit and apples, we now have two very large and developed industries with good technologies going in and good labour supply. We will see good growth this year," he says.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
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