Top wool advocate bales out
The conversion of productive farmland into trees has pretty much annihilated the wool industry.
The Chinese carpet market is worth US$4.8 billion.
And carpets and rugs made from NZ wool are well regarded in the market.
Wools of NZ chief executive John McWhirter says it is rightly valued for its ability to create cleaner and brighter products and for its superior yield through manufacturing.
“As a brand, Wools of New Zealand is held in high regard for its purity and global presence, and being farmer owned, gives our brand unrivalled integrity.”
He expects benefits from sales in the Chinese market to flow back to farmers over time.
“Having a flagship partner that has invested in the Wools of New Zealand brand calls into question other carpet manufacturers that falsely claim to use New Zealand wool which is one of the limiting factors on demand.
“We work hard to protect the reputation of New Zealand wool by ensuring branded products are true to provenance.”
McWhirter points out that Yangxin Ruixin is not a new user of New Zealand wool. “The Wools of New Zealand brand partnership ensures a minimum percentage of our fibre is used within the products (20% more than previously) and, more importantly, means we can work together to grow both businesses, taking market share from both plastic and non-New Zealand wool.
“The partnership is about adding value as well as increased volume. The extra wool required to meet our brand standard is immediately replacing plastic fibre.”
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.