Lower North Island farmers “cautiously optimistic” heading into winter – DairyNZ
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
Meat and dairy products dominated the rise in total manufacturing sales for the September 2012 quarter, Statistics New Zealand says.
After adjusting for seasonal effects, the value of total manufacturing sales rose 1.6% ($370 million), led by the 9.3% ($612 million) increase in meat and dairy product manufacturing.
When price changes are removed, the volume of manufacturing sales rose 2.6%, also led by meat and dairy product manufacturing, up 13%.
"The volume increase in meat and dairy manufacturing is reflected in the rise of export volumes for dairy and meat products, with increases of 32% in dairy, and 15% in meat," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno says.
"Looking at the longer-term picture, the trend for manufacturing volumes has risen in the past year."
Without the meat and dairy industry contribution, the volume of manufacturing sales fell 1.4% in the September quarter.
"Despite this, the trend for sales volume, excluding the meat and dairy industry, has remained relatively flat for the last three years," Cardno says.
Eight of the other 12 manufacturing industries recorded falls in the September quarter. The other main movements this quarter were:
• metal product manufacturing, down 6.9%
• chemical, polymer, and rubber product manufacturing, up 7.3%
Global trade wars and uncertain tariff regimes could play into the hands of many New Zealand exporters, according to Gareth Coleman ANZ’s Head of Trade & Supply Chain.
The long running trade dispute between NZ and Canada appears to be over.
Herd improvement company LIC has ended the 2024-25 financial year in a strong position - debt-free and almost quadrupling its net profit.
There's been widespread support from the primary sector for the Government's move to put the brakes on local authorities to do any more work on planning changes ahead of major changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA).
Rural health advocates say the Government's decision to establish a new medical school at the University of Waikato augurs well for the rural sector.
People affected by the recent two severe flood events in the Tasman district are weary and exhausted trying to deal with the devastation on their farms and orchards, according to the head of the Rural Support Trust (RST) in the region.
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