Red meat industry hails new migrant visa rules as win for jobs and exports
New Zealand's red meat processing and exporting sector has welcomed the government's announcement of new work visas.
New Zealand red meat exports hit a record in April however ongoing volatility in China indicates head winds in the coming months, says the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
New Zealand exported products worth $999.6 million during the month of April, up 16% on April 2021 with the value of overall exports increasing to most major markets.
Sirma Karapeeva, chief executive of MIA, says that while red meat exports continued to achieve good returns, there was some fluctuation in demand, particularly in China and the US.
“The value of overall exports to China was down 6% year on year. There was also a small drop in the volume of both sheepmeat and beef exported. The reduction in sheepmeat was largely due to China, with beef exports to the US also dipping,” Karapeeva says.
She says that while still below pre-pandemic levels, volumes of overall sheepmeat exports to the EU and UK were up compared to the last two years.
“Shipping challenges continue to impact UK chilled exports.”
Despite the drop in volumes, with sheepmeat down by 6% and beef by 4%, the overall value of exports increased to April 2021 with sheepmeat (35,553 tonnes) up 8% to $408m and beef (41,350 tonnes) up 25% to $414m.
The value of overall sheepmeat exports to the UK ($52.3m) was the highest that it has been in April for a number of years.
Karapeeva says this would have been higher if chilled exports were at their normal levels.
April continued the trend of strong beef exports into the other north Asian markets, in particular Korea.
New Zealand has exported a record $131 million worth of beef into Korea during the first four months of the year – compared to $132 million worth exported there during the whole of 2021.
It was also another strong month for co-products, with the value of all categories increasing and the overall value up 14% to $178m.
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.