Crazy
OPINION: Your canine crusader was truly impressed by the almost unanimous support given by politicians of all stripes in Parliament to the recent passing of legislation for the NZ/EU free trade deal.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon says a fresh look is needed at the primary sector to ask what problems the country is trying to solve and what sort of regulation is needed to solve such problems.
He believes there are a lot of solutions in search of problems going on at the moment and that problem definition is very poor.
"A lot of ideas are being dreamed up which are poor and full of errors, such as the recent winter grazing rules," he told Rural News.
Luxon made these comments during a brief tour of the Manawatū recently, which included a stop at the Feilding saleyards where he chatted to local farmers and media. He saw a few pens of store sheep being sold at prices ranging from $150 to $175 and got a good briefing on the state of the market from staff at the yards.
Luxon says a key priority for him is to get a mindset change towards the rural sector, where all New Zealanders understand that our farmers are the best in the world and are constantly improving their operations. He says farmers are just like chief executives who run a business and need to be respected and supported for what they do. "They have been beaten up and down so much with a government that has been piling regulation onto them and intimating that they are villains, when they are not."
Luxon says the biggest thing that needs focus is global consumer trends, which he believes is about meeting and delivering for the market and making sure we innovate and keep our world leading position in place. He says that means we have to spend a lot more on R&D and ag-tech to achieve that.
"The reality is the consumer is changing and we have to recognise that we sell products to consumers," he adds. "We may wish we could keep doing it the way we have always done, but every business or sector cannot afford to lose the voice of the consumer.
"Today is all about consumer demand and when you see what's happening in other parts of the world it's clear people want to know who's the behind the product; the country, the brand policies and the social and environmental practices behind that product."
Luxon singled out Zespri for the exceptional job they have done in this respect, where a good, sustainable story is well understood by growers and consumers and all those in the supply chain.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.
Rural trader PGG Wrightson has revised its operating earnings guidance, saying trading conditions have deteriorated since the last market update in February.
It's been a bumper season for maize and other supplements in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
Leading farmers from around New Zealand connected to share environmental stories and inspiration and build relationships at the Dairy Environment Leaders (DEL) national forum in Wellington last month.
AgriZeroNZ, a joint venture fast-tracking emissions reduction tools for farmers, is pouring $5 million in a biotech company to develop a low emissions farm pasture with increased productivity gains.