Editorial: NZ's great China move
OPINION: The New Zealand red meat sector, with support from the Government, has upped the ante to retain and expand its niche in the valuable Chinese market - and the signs are looking positive.
The Meat Industry Association (MIA) says it's facing bureaucratic barriers from Immigration NZ as it tries to get sufficient halal butchers for the coming season.
In its just released annual report, the MIA says there simply aren't enough Muslim butchers in the regions where the meat processing plants are based to do the job. Therefore migrant labour is essential. It adds that when the current visas for overseas halal butchers in NZ run out, the industry will face a crunch point.
The MIA wants the Government to create a special work visa or halal butchers but has yet to get a response to this request.
Chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says they have a small window of opportunity to sort this out and a final solution has still to be crafted.
"For meat processors this would be one of the top issues," Karapeeva told Rural News. "It's about getting the labour settings right and having enough people to process products and value-add."
She says this is closely followed by having enough stock to process.
"This, of course, links up to the climate change and environmental issues that our farmer colleagues are working through at the moment."
Karapeeva says climate change is huge for the red meat sector because there is still a lot of work to be done and there are some very big issues that need to be resolved.
"This is around the pricing of emissions and what would work in a way that incentivises the reduction of emissions, while not undermining the profitability and productivity of farms."
Karapeeva says dealing with this requires some complex thinking and work.
She adds that consultation processes currently being undertaken in the environmental space are "really intense and disjointed".
Karapeeva doesn't believe the processes have really been thought through and says unless you're intimately involved it can be very confusing.
"I get the sense the different groups and organisations involved in these changes are pushing their own agenda," she says. "They are consulting with the same people but not necessarily understanding the connectivity between the various pieces of policy that are being proposed and how the package will impact on the farming community."
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.
Livestock can be bred for lower methane emissions while also improving productivity at a rate greater than what the industry is currently achieving, research has shown.
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