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THE BUDGET'S $40 million of new funding for irrigation projects will deliver economic and environmental benefits for New Zealand, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says.
"This will help unlock the potential that water storage and irrigation can deliver, giving a real boost to jobs and exports in regional economies," he says.
"This new capital funding of $40 million comes from the Future Investment Fund and will be used to purchase shares in Crown Irrigation, enabling it to make further investments. It is in addition to $80 million allocated in last year's Budget.
"If current proposals are advanced there could be a further 420,000ha of irrigated land available for a variety of uses over time. Research from NZIER suggests that exports could be boosted by around $4 billion a year by 2026.
"Irrigation often has real environmental benefits, with more consistent river flows in summer and reduced pressure on ground water sources.
"Only 2% of rainfall in New Zealand is captured and used for irrigation. Clearly we need to do a better job of using this precious resource.
"After the extreme drought most of the country suffered last year, and the one earlier this year in Northland and Waikato, the need for better water storage is obvious," Guy says.
Crown Irrigation makes targeted bridging investments in irrigation schemes that would not be established with private finance alone. All decisions are made by an independent board.
Last month, Crown Irrigation announced its first investment, with $6.5 million going towards the Central Plains Water Scheme in Canterbury.
Opuha Dam's ability to protect South Canterbury communities from major flooding has taken a significant step forward, with Opuha Water Limited (OWL) successfully commissioning a new outlet valve capable of releasing record volumes of water from the dam ahead of a weather event.
As expected, the US has launched a safeguard investigation into lamb imports, a move that could impact New Zealand sheepmeat returns.
New Zealand's red meat sector says it welcomes the Government's focus on trade ahead of the general election in November.
New Zealand red meat exports are booming but a pending decision in the White House, Washington D.C., could dent sheepmeat earnings.
Politicians calling for New Zealand to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate risk damaging two of our gold-plated free trade deals.
Minister of Conservation Hon Tama Potaka has appointed Susan O'Regan as Chair of the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust (QEII) for a three-year term.
Red meat farmers are welcoming Labour’s plan to review the Emissions Trading Scheme and not to campaign on pricing agricultural emissions.
Where any worker in the kiwifruit industry is mistreated, we expect the authorities to take action.
Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers arable chair, Bevan Lill, said Beef + Lamb NZ data indicated that for the last six years, the average arable return on investment was about 0.8% while inflation ran about 4% - so the average arable farm was going backwards at about 3% a year.
Seed and grain companies share the concerns of arable farmers about the viability of their sector, says Seed and Grain New Zealand chief executive Dr Sarah Clark.
The New Zealand Institute of Forestry (NZIF) says unnecessary changes to New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) will seriously erode investor confidence and result in significant reductions in forest planting rates.
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