US helps offset weak Chinese market
Red meat exports topped $932 million during February, with demand from the US helping to offset the weak Chinese market.
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."
Angus Barr and Tara Dwyer of The Wandle, Lone Star Farms in Strath Taieri have been named the Regional Supreme Winners at the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Dunedin.
OPINION: The distress that the politicians and bureaucrats are causing to the people of Wairoa and the wider Tairāwhiti is unforgivable.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.
World Veterinary Day falls on Saturday 27 April.