OPINION: It's the season of Government u-turns on key policies and farmers are hoping it will extend to the ban on live cattle exports.

While the outlook for global sheepmeat and beef trade is improving, Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) says it expects farmer profitability to fall sharply due to reduced livestock prices and continued high inflation.

Scales Corp says it is still appraising the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the horticultural side of its business.

Dairy Commodity markets have traversed softer ground for 2023, and this is now reflected in Fonterra’s new forecast farmgate midpoint of NZ$ 8.50/kgMS.

With less than three months left in the 2022-23 season, the window for farmgate milk prices to lift is closing.

While Chinese motor vehicle brands are becoming more commonplace on the roads of New Zealand, the same couldn’t be said about Chinese quad bike and side by sides on farms, as many have struggled to beat the stranglehold of the big Japanese brands.

Over 50,000 metric tonnes of pork was imported into New Zealand last year, most of which came from countries that allow pig farming practices that are illegal in New Zealand, claims NZPork.

New Zealand red meat exports had a slow start to the year with total export values down 7% compared to January 2022, according to analysis by the Meat Industry Association (MIA).

Dairy Commodity markets start the new year on softer ground and with a weaker tone to linger into New Zealand’s new season. Commodity prices have been losing momentum since the midpoint of 2022.

A new report by Rabobank suggests that 2023 will prove to be an uphill climb for New Zealand agriculture, with the difficulty of the climb hinging on four main ‘wildcard’ factors.