Positive vibes from China
Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dan Boulton says his recent visit to China has left him feeling optimistic about the situation there for the meat industry.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recently turned the first sod at Silver Fern Farms' Beflast (Christchurch) meat works for a project slated as a major step in the company's ambition to become coal-free by 2030.
The Belfast Hot Temperature Pump will be a heat pump harnessing waste heat from the refrigeration process to heat hot water for other parts of the plant's operation.
It is expected to slash about 8% off the company's total coal consumption by replacing 1,500 tonnes of coal a year and abate 59,000 tonnes of carbon across its lifetime.
About half of the $1.6 million cost is coming from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) fund.
Funding has also been secured for similar pumps at SFF's Finegand and Pareora plants.
Jacinda Ardern told VIPs and Belfast plant workers at the launch that some have called the GIDI scheme "corporate welfare" but she considers it a direct partnership that has had "huge" potential.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the relationship between New Zealand and the US will remain strong and enduring irrespective of changing administrations.
More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) says securing more China label registrations and developing its own nutritional manufacturing capability are high on its agenda.
Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.
As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.
The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.
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