The ups and downs of 2016 – the year in review
Another year has almost passed us by – again – and it is time for the annual review of 2016 in the primary sector as seen by the Rural News editorial team.
The Hound notes that former Meat Industry Excellence (MIE) member Mark Patterson is now trying to use the same anti-Chinese sentiment the failed group used to oppose the takeover by Yili of Westland Milk.
Patterson these days is a little-known NZ First list MP and he’s employing the same scare tactics that MIE tried and miserably failed to stop the very successful merger of Silver Fern Farms with China-based Shanghai Maling a couple of years ago.
Patterson’s claims that the sale of Westland to Yili risks NZ losing control of its biggest industry – dairy – to overseas ownership is a bit of a stretch when around 85% of the NZ industry is still controlled by the farmer owned-co-op Fonterra!
State farmer Pāmu says a programme it's running to help skilled operators into farm ownership is paying dividends.
Central Otago farmer Bevan McKnight no longer worries about leaving a few Angus cattle behind while mustering on the 13,000ha station he leases.
Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) and the Ag Emissions Centre have completed the latest phase of a mult-year methane research project, providing important insight into the role genetics may play in reducing gross emissions.
A lavish signing ceremony in Delhi has cemented in place a deal that will have massive economic benefits for some of NZ's key primary exports - notably forestry, horticulture, sheepmeat and wool.
Fonterra has announced interim changes to the leadership of its Global Ingredients business.

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