increase font size
Damien O'Connor.
Budget 2020 makes major investments in the primary sector that will support more than 10,000 people into jobs, claims Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.
He says there are significant employment opportunities in the primary industries and Government will be training people to have the skills they need for the jobs in the sector.
“To that end, we’re investing $19.3* million in a range of initiatives that will partner and support more than 10,000 New Zealanders in primary sector jobs by rapidly retraining and absorbing workers displaced from other sectors like hospitality, tourism and aviation,” O’Connor says.
Meanwhile, he says $128* million committed to control wilding pines and wallabies would protect farmers from costly pests and provide jobs for people most affected by COVID-19.
“The wilding pine funding will be a game changer in our fight against a pest that is a $4.6 billion threat to our economy, while providing up to 600 jobs,” O’Connor claims.
“Around $28* million for Wallaby control will focus our efforts against this destructive pest and provide dozens of jobs.
O’Connor adds that the Budget also includes a $433 million package to fund 4,000 jobs over five years in regional environmental projects.
“The initiatives in this package will support the Government’s objectives in its Action for Healthy Waterways.”
* These figures are over a four-year period
OPINION: Welcome to the second annual NZ Dairy Expo at Matamata – an event created to bring together the best of the New Zealand dairy industry in a focused, grassroots environment where dairy farmers and rural professionals can meet, talk, compare products, and make smart decisions for their farms.
It's a bloody tough year for sheep farmers, but the worst may be over, and the future looks optimistic.
One of the country’s two largest supermarket chains is reporting that for the first time since the disruption of Covid, they have largely full supply on almost all fruit and vegetables grown locally.
Covid-19 took global shipping rates to mind boggling highs, but over the subsequent 12-15 months they returned to more sustainable levels. Fast forward to July 2024 and rates have nearly doubled over three months.
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) chief executive Nadine Tunley says the industry-good body’s support for growers has proven to be multifaceted.
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.
OPINION: The world is bracing for a trade war between the two biggest economies.
OPINION: In the same way that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, economists sometimes get it right.
OPINION: The proposed RMA reforms took a while to drop but were well signaled after the election.
