NZ Exporters Urge Politicians to Finalise India Free Trade Deal
New Zealand exporters are putting the blowtorch on politicians to get the free trade deal with India over the line.
Meat Industry Association (MIA) chief executive Sirma Karapeeva sees no end in sight to the shipping and logistical woes that the meat and other primary sectors are facing.
She says these involve big, complicated global issues beyond NZ's control.
"It's going to become one of those norms that people are just going to learn how to deal with it and in the best way they can," Karapeeva explains. "I don't see it ending anytime soon."
Meanwhile, a study aimed at highlighting the health and nutritional benefits of meat from NZ pasture-reared animals is nearing an end.
In its annual report, the MIA says Pasture Raised Advantage (PRA) programme assesses the health, nutritional and wellbeing benefits of consuming NZ pasture-raised beef and lamb compared to grain finished beef and plant-based alternatives.
The programme has been running for two years and the final clinical trials are about to begin with the food being fed to people and tracking how they react and feel.
Karapeeva says the research is world class and looks at the digestibility of meat and how the body responds to the nutrients it gets. She says it also looks at comparing the wellness and wellbeing implications of meat verses plant-based diets.
"We get a lot of information in the press and social media about what is good and bad for you and what is healthy and what is not," Karapeeva told Rural News.
"A lot of that information is driven off a US or grain fed production system, which is very different to the way we do things here. Part of this project is to put this information in context and say this is how it works in NZ."
Westgold butter has been named New Zealand's tastiest in a blind tasting conducted by Consumer New Zealand.
A New Zealand agritech and dairy services group has big plans as it expands its dairy services footprint across dairy hygiene, data, and milk cooling with the purchase of nationwide refrigeration business Dairy Technology Services (DTS).
The 2026 Holstein Friesian sales season has already delivered outstanding results across New Zealand and Australia - including a new Australasian record.
OPINION: At a time when farmers are advocating for less government spending and no new taxes, the dairy sector is rightly concerned by ACT's new immigration policy.
Feilding Agricultural High School isn't alone in offering agricultural or horticultural subjects as part of its curriculum, but the location of one of its farms on the northern edge of the urban fringe makes for some interesting considerations.
Analysis of decades of research has revealed the good farming pracrtice plays a critical role in reducing nutrient losses to improve freshwater outcomes.

OPINION: When Donald Trump returned to the White House, many people with half a brain could see the results for…
OPINION: Media trust has tanked because of what media's more woke members do and say.