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Agriculture Minister Todd McClay.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says the hard-working men and women of rural New Zealand are playing their part to help rebuild the economy.
McClay says that interest rates and on-farm inflation have turned a corner, meaning farmers can continue to innovate and boost productivity while working to meet environmental obligations.
“With 80% of all the goods coming from the primary sector and more than 350,000 Kiwis employed because of rural activity, farming, forestry, and horticulture remains a mainstay of the NZ economic activity,” McClay says.
He says the Government’s target of doubling exports by value over ten years provides an opportunity to work with the primary sector to add value and deliver greater returns at the farm gate.
“The Government has huge respect for our farmers,” he says. “We will continue to partner with them to drive down costs, simplify regulations and build trust as we get Wellington out of farming.”
“This Government trusts farmers and will continue to back them to deliver for NZ, rural communities can be assured that we have the best and most connected team of Ministers from all over New Zealand working hard on delivering for them,” McClay says.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.
New Zealand avocado growers have received a major boost by securing a collective FernMark Licence for their exports.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says the US tariff decision appears to be based on a calculation of trade deficits, with countries running a surplus with the US moved to the higher rate.
With adverse weather set to rain down on the Top of the South, the Bay of Plenty and parts of Northland, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says farmers, foresters, and growers need to prepare for possible challenges.
A long running trade dispute between New Zealand and Canada over dairy access has been resolved.
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.
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