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Special agricultural trade envoy Mike Petersen (left) and Fonterra director Michael Spaans at the launch of KPMG’s Agribusiness Report at Fieldays
Ranked sixth in importance by industry leaders is the need to develop future leaders.
KPMG’s Ian Proudfoot says the primary sector needs people from a diverse range of backgrounds – including app developers and consumer experience experts, as much as scientists and farm labourers. “There is no silver bullet for attracting people into a primary sector career given the low profile the industry has in schools and the historic perceptions of those who influence career choices.
“The recurring theme of our discussions was that the issue is too big for any single organisation to address [by itself].
“There is an urgent need for a well-designed, carefully messaged and widely communicated pan-industry career awareness initiative. It must explain what the primary sector is, what it produces, who it sells to and what it contributes to New Zealand. It must be clear that the industry offers a huge diversity of career options – jobs that require many different skills, with ambition and a desire to succeed as the only common attributes.”
Proudfoot says any strategy must lift the engagement with schools and universities, especially in cities where young people gain only limited insight into the primary sector and are presented with few obvious pathways into careers.
He says sector leaders need to get into schools and tell students their career stories, and companies need to support teachers to incorporate primary sector themes into the curriculum. School camps need to become farm stay experiences, and urban farms developed to enable every kid to gain industry awareness.
The liquidation of failed co-operative Organic Dairy Hub is continuing, and net proceeds will be distributed to farmer shareholders once final tax obligations have been met, according to the liquidators.
A world-class biosecurity remains the top priority of New Zealand agribusiness leaders.
A co-operative touted as New Zealand's only 100% farmer-owned organic milk producer has gone bust.
The cost of living crisis is putting even more pressure on farmers to ensure they are delivering what customers want.
The need for world-class biosecurity remains the highest priority for agriculture industry leaders.
Scion is running experimental research burns near Christchurch from March 3-14, to test new theories on how wildfires spread under various conditions.
New Zealand's red meat exports for 2024 finished on a positive note, with total export value increasing 17% over last December to reach $1.04 billion, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
One of the most important events in the history of the primary sector that happened 143 years ago was celebrated in style at Parliament recently.
Many companies are financially mortally wounded by the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle and may have to sell up because of their high debt levels.
AgResearch scientists have collected the first known data showing behavioural developmental impacts on lambs whose mothers were treated with long-acting drugs for parasites.
Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner, North, Mike Inglis says the $2.4 million cost of a recent biosecurity operation in South Auckland is small compared to the potential economic impact of an incursion.
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