Bikinis in cowshed
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.
Post Covid, Ray Smith, director general of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), says there is a big opportunity to take our primary product to the rest of the world.
He says people trust our products and trust what we produce in NZ.
In our big sectors – meat and dairy – demand for our product continues to be strong and the diversification into a whole range of markets has really helped, Smith says. He also believes there are enormous opportunities in horticulture.
“Everyone I talk to in that industry wants to make greater investments,” he told Rural News.
“People are looking for land and investment opportunities to grow high value horticulture. We could see, across the next decade, new fruit varieties – such as dragon fruit – come along and a further push on avocados to get those fruit over the billion dollar mark.”
Smith says there is a tendency to underestimate the importance of biosecurity in our everyday practices on farm. He points out that much of NZ’s success on the trade side is due to the fact that we are free of pests and diseases and that gives us access to markets in countries which value this.
Also paramount on the trade front Smith says is sustainability. He says a strong commitment to this is critical if NZ is to negotiate good trade deals with places such as the EU.
“NZ’s sustainability story is very compelling to those countries in the European area who are also striving for the same thing. We have got a lot in common.”
Like many manufacturers around the world, European agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturers are currently operating in a difficult market environment. But they are heading to the world’s largest agricultural machinery event in Hanover next month with a degree of cautious optimism.
Established in 2021, the John Deere Technician of the Year Awards champion the important contribution parts and service technicians make to the Australian and New Zealand agriculture, construction and forestry industries.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.