RWNZ chief executive to step down
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) chief executive Gabrielle O’Brien will step down at the end of June.
The biggest threat to the primary sector – right now – is if COVID-19 gets into a processing plant, says Mike Petersen, former special trade envoy and Beef + Lamb chair.
“That is not just in the meat industry; that is in the horticulture sector and the dairy sector,” he told Rural News.
“There is a big risk. We are at peak picking season now with apples and kiwifruit.”
Petersen says the sector has to get it right otherwise it will lose the privilege of food production being deemed an essential service.
“Our number one priority is feeding New Zealanders first and foremost and then obviously exporting our other product to the world,” he adds.
“It is the privilege we have been given, but also a huge responsibility and we have got to make sure we have got it right.
“We shouldn’t take this lightly. We should make sure we are doing everything possible to ensure our systems and processes comply with the physical distancing rules.”
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.