NZPork Urges Government to Protect Productive Rural Land in Planning Reform
NZPork says the Government needs to strengthen its proposed planning laws to ensure New Zealand's pig farmers can continue to produce pork.
RuralCo chair Jessie Chan has been appointed as an independent director to the NZPork board.
Chan, who lives in Rakaia in mid-Canterbury, also serves on the board of Bioprotection Aotearoa and is a Trustee of Meat the Need. Previously, she held positions on the boards of Ngāi Tahu Farming, Alpine Energy, Connetics, Business Mid Canterbury and Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury. She was also an associate director with DairyNZ.
This year, Chan was named a member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to dairy and agriculture. In 2017, she was named Dairy Woman of the Year and received the Women in Governance Award for Inspiring Governance Leader in 2021.
She says she is excited to be joining the NZPork board.
“This is a challenging time for pig farmers and the industry. The sector has significant concerns about the impractical regulations in the draft Code of Welfare and a growing wave of imported pork produced using practices that are illegal in this country,” she says.
“NZPork is certainly up for the challenge, advocating hard on behalf of our farmers and pressing for food security to be maintained for all New Zealanders.”
Chan says the New Zealand pork sector is small but proud with a strong environmental record.
“It is important to ensure that the sector can thrive and that pig farmers can continue to provide nutritious high quality New Zealand born and raised pork, farmed to high welfare standards.”
Former National MP and Deputy Speaker Eric Roy has been re-appointed as an independent director and chairman of NZPork.
Rural contractors will be able to play a role in the revamped agricultural plastic recycling scheme with new regulations due for Cabinet signoff before this year’s election.
Farm workers living in accommodation provided by their employers are now set to be able to access their KiwiSaver funds to buy their first home thanks to a pending change in the rules governing KiwiSaver.
Treat agricultural emissions differently. That’s the message from the chair of the prestigious Riddet Institute, Sir Lockwood Smith.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand Inc and Pacific Toyota have pulled the covers off the season's most unique performance vehicle - The Lamb Cruiser.
The 2026 New Zealand Horticulture Conference is set to see more than 900 growers, employers, service providers and industry stakeholders gather in Wellington in July.
New Zealand's longest running television programme, the iconic Country Calendar, celebrated its 60th birthday in style in Wellington last week.

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