Free workshops to bolster farmer financial skills
Free workshops are being offered around the country to help farmers take more ownership of their farm business finances.
New Zealand has been better than Australia at capitalising on the market for boutique foods, according to a top Australian scientist.
Dr Stefan Hajkowicz told the Rabobank Farm2Fork seminar, in Sydney, this was being done through the High Value Nutrition Programme – a joint government-industry initiative.
The CSIRO senior principal scientist – strategy and foresight, was giving a perspective on the next 20 years of food production.
He says this programme is “a really logical positioning play into a massive market” as there is huge demand for food and different types of food.
Hajkowicz says demand for protein is rising considerably.
Analysis of the China economy showed they absolutely had to sign the free trade deal with Australia (which came into effect in 2015) because if they hadn’t they could not have got enough food into China.
He says this, and the growing wealth of Chinese consumers, had opened up markets. For instance, 10 years ago the Chinese did not eat bananas because they could not afford them; now there is a massive demand.
There is literally a “hungry economy” and “a hugely diversified table and provenance really matters”.
He says there is a huge demand for boutique, specialised foods with a provenance story. This is where New Zealand is capitalising better through the High Nutrition Programme.
He says the whole world economy has shifted and he cited a study by a London economist, which showed the hot-spots for global GDP. In 1980, the hot-spot was in the Atlantic Ocean between the US and Europe: they had most of global GDP.
By the year 2030, it will be between India and China – two massive economies which will continue to grow at 6-9% per annum vs the OECD economies growing at 2%.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
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.