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.
A welcome relief – that’s how the New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) is describing the decision to include veterinarians on the new Government Green List.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the Green List which is designed to provide a streamlined and prioritised pathway to residency, incentivising highly skilled workers to relocate to New Zealand long term.
The list includes 85 hard-to-fill roles, including veterinarians, to help attract and retain high-skilled workers to alleviate skill shortages.
NZVA chief executive Kevin Bryant says he welcomes the news, adding it was urgently required to help tackle the current workforce shortage in veterinary practices across the country.
“Veterinary professionals have been under incredible pressure ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began," Bryant says. "Being included on the Green List will make it much easier to actively recruit highly-skilled veterinarians to work here."
Visa extensions have also been announced for approximately 20,000 migrants already in New Zealand to ensure skilled workers can stay in the country.
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.
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DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
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