Global customers to fund new incentives for Fonterra farmers
Fonterra has announced new financial incentives for farmers who achieve on-farm emissions targets.
Meat and dairy products drove the fall in manufacturing sales for the June 2013 quarter, Statistics New Zealand says. The drought earlier this year appears to have contributed to the fall.
After adjusting for seasonal effects the volume of total manufacturing sales fell 3.4%. This fall was led by a 10% decrease in meat and dairy product manufacturing.
"The volume decrease in meat and dairy product manufacturing is reflected in the fall of export volumes for dairy and meat products," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno says.
Overseas Trade Indexes (Volumes): June 2013 quarter (provisional) reported decreases of 18% in dairy exports and 7.1% in meat exports.
"Without the meat and dairy contribution, the volume of manufacturing sales was flat in the June 2013 quarter," Cardno says.
The trend for the total manufacturing sales volume, which gives a longer-term picture of movements, also reflects the impact of meat and dairy product manufacturing.
"Both the total manufacturing trend and the meat and dairy trend, which were rising during 2012, have fallen this year," Cardno says.
Nine of the other 12 manufacturing industries recorded falls in the June quarter. The other main movements were:
• chemical, polymer, and rubber product manufacturing, up 6%
• petroleum and coal product manufacturing, down 5.2%
In current prices, the total manufacturing sales value fell 2% ($455 million) to a seasonally adjusted $22.3 billion.
The cost of producing milk in New Zealand continues to compare favourably with other exporting regions despite a lift in production costs over the past five years.
DairyNZ says potential benefits from gene technology must be carefully weighed against the risks of such technology.
Pleased, but cautious. That’s how PGG Wrightson chief executive Stephen Guerin says he’s feeling about the rural retailer’s latest financial result.
Commodity prices and interest rates play a huge role in shaping farmer confidence, but these factors are beyond their control, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre.
DairyNZ is supporting a proposed new learning model for apprenticeships and traineeships that would see training, education, and pastoral care delivered together to provide the best chance of success.
Two agritech companies have joined forces to help eliminate manual entry and save farmer time.
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