Biosecurity tops priorities for agribusiness leaders - report
Biosecurity remains the top priority for agribusiness leaders, according to KPMG’s 2025 Agribusiness Agenda released last week.
Primary Industries Minister David Carter is welcoming a boost to New Zealand's biosecurity frontline with the graduation on Friday of 46 new recruits.
With training completed of the largest intake of border staff in over a decade, the Ministry for Primary Industries issued warrants to 43 new quarantine inspectors and three new detector dog handlers at a ceremony in Auckland.
"As the Government had planned, these new border staff will bring MPI's biosecurity frontline up to full strength and will help meet the demands of the summer peak season," says Carter.
"The quarantine inspectors and dog handlers are now ready to protect our primary industries and the Kiwi way of life by keeping unwanted pests and diseases out of the country."
The majority of the quarantine inspectors will be based in Auckland, and five will go to Wellington. The three new dog handlers will go to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Four existing warranted quarantine inspectors who have trained as dog handlers are also graduated. They will work with the 11 detector dogs that went through MPI's training centre earlier this year.
"Detector dogs and their handlers are an important part of our biosecurity frontline. The dogs' presence at the airport is a major factor, they are excellent at detecting seeds and plants that x-rays may miss, and they screen people faster than x-rays," Carter says.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
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