Editorial: Getting the RMA overhaul right
OPINION: Making it easier to get things done while protecting the environment - that's the Government's promise when it comes to the overhaul of the problematic Resource Management Act (RMA).
OPINION: Putting more lamb on Kiwi dinner plates is one way to boost returns to farmers.
This is one of the three actions recommended by a Rabobank report to create more consistency in earnings along the supply chain.
The challenge for the red meat sector's marketing arm is to increase per capita consumption of lamb to Australian levels. That one achievement would propel the domestic market behind only China in terms of overall consumption of New Zealand sheepmeat.
According to the report, the majority of New Zealand lamb is exported, and over the past five years, New Zealand's domestic consumption has averaged just 5% of total population.
Domestic consumption is limited by population size, but at 1.95kg, New Zealand per capital consumption is not even one-third of Australia's 6.4kg, as stated by 2023 OECD data.
Australia's much higher domestic consumption adds resilience to their lamb market, as strength in domestic retail trade can help balance out global demand dynamics and associated price volatility.
The report says what our Aussie cousins have done well to support domestic consumption is to promote Australian lamb quality and nutritional value. New Zealand has pushed these messages in the past, but an opportunity exists for industry bodies to invest in marketing the New Zealand lamb story to reposition lamb in the eyes of local consumers, it says.
So, why is NZ lamb not hitting Kiwi plates more often?
According to the OECD, domestic consumption of other proteins such as pork and poultry has increased significantly and a major drive towards export markets for lamb may have contributed to higher prices domestically.
The challenge for Beef + Lamb NZ Inc is clear - convince Kiwis to eat more lamb.
Our Aussie cousins are experts at this. Let's take a leaf out of their book and try similar campaigns here. More lamb consumption in NZ means better returns for our hardworking sheep farmers.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
OPINION: The world is bracing for a trade war between the two biggest economies.
OPINION: In the same way that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, economists sometimes get it right.
OPINION: The proposed RMA reforms took a while to drop but were well signaled after the election.