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Recent Posts
- Carbon farming steps forward on the North Island hard-hill country
- The big picture with sheep
- Sheep remain dominant on South Island hill and high country
- Intensive sheep and beef provide cash but wealth depends on capital gain
- Searching for the future on the North Island hills
- Fonterra’s restructure proposal risks the co-operative
- Fonterra heads towards a new capital structure with scope for unintended consequences
- Sheep and beef farms are getting squeezed
- A2 moves from a brand to a category
- Pastoral Lands Bill hits rocky ground
- The NZ system for GHG reporting will be crucial
- Forestry issues still need much debate
- Zespri faces a China conundrum
- New Zealand’s internal inflation is not benign
- Dairy markets have hit a sweet spot but big challenges remain
- The winding path of COVID-19
- Rolleston Rescue 1968
- Farewell to Sir Bob Elliott
- Pivoting from production to permanent forests
- House-price inflation and interest rates are bound at the hip
- Regenerative agriculture is not redundant but can be misguided
- It’s time for Fonterra to define the new path ahead
- Agriculture will change but pastoral agriculture will survive and prosper
- Reserve Bank drives economic policy
- Green-lipped mussels are becoming heavy lifters
- Composting mootels can transform dairy, but only if we get things right
- Fonterra stabilises finances with back to basics model, selling assets and retaining profits
- Coronavirus border policies need a deeper rethink
- Green vegetables grow at the feet of big mountains
- Big win for Fonterra from latest DIRA amendments
- A resource-based perspective on immigration
- Can strong wool find a new El Dorado?
- Is regenerative agriculture the real deal
- Can low interest rates really stimulate the economy?
- Government’s food and fibre reset report lacks a core
- Seeking new markets in the West
- Quantitative easing floods capital markets
- The ongoing search for new markets – India and beyond
- Rugby’s role in a greater South Pacific strategic reset
- A1 milk predisposes to asthma and lung inflammation
- COVID-19 scenarios are becoming increasingly evident
- Searching for markets within Asean
- COVID-19 is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability
- North-East Asian markets as alternatives to China
- Why and how did China markets become so important for New Zealand?
- Monday’s COVID-19 decision will be a defining moment for New Zealand
- Contact-tracing will be the Achilles heel of the COVID-19 program at LEVEL 3
- Is the Mycoplasma bovis eradication campaign on track?
- COVID-19 decision-makers are flying blind from insufficient testing data
- Can we stamp out COVID-19?
Category Archives: Agribusiness
Sheep remain dominant on South Island hill and high country
In previous articles, I first described the North Island’s 4000 commercial hill-country farms (Beef+Lamb Classes 3 and 4). Subsequently, I wrote about the approximately 4400 intensive sheep and beef farms that are spread across both North and South Islands (Beef+Lamb … Continue reading
Searching for the future on the North Island hills
Some weeks back I wrote an article on New Zealand’s sheep and beef farms, focusing on the current situation. I said I would be back as there was more to discuss about both the present and the future. Here, I … Continue reading
Fonterra heads towards a new capital structure with scope for unintended consequences
Fonterra’s latest proposals to change its capital structure will be far reaching. If implemented, they will essentially undo the misleadingly named ‘Trading Among Farmers’ (TAF) system set up in 2012. I say ‘misleading’ because in reality that was a scheme … Continue reading
Posted in Agribusiness, Fonterra, Uncategorized
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Sheep and beef farms are getting squeezed
The sheep and beef industry is getting squeezed from all sides, yet export returns exceed $7 billion. I decided recently that it was time to take a closer look at what is happening on sheep and beef farms. The underlying … Continue reading
Posted in Agribusiness, Meat Industry, sheep and beef farms, Uncategorized, Wool
6 Comments
Zespri faces a China conundrum
China is New Zealand’s biggest kiwifruit market. Growth of this market has been spectacular with the Zespri-owned SunGold variety much-loved by Chinese consumers. The problem is that the Chinese are also growing at least 4000 hectares of SunGold without the … Continue reading
Posted in Agribusiness, China, horticulture, Uncategorized
1 Comment
Regenerative agriculture is not redundant but can be misguided
Arguments about regenerative agriculture illustrate the challenges of creating informed debate. More generally, democracies depend on voters understanding complex issues The overarching title to this article, that regenerative agriculture is not redundant but can be misguided, contrasts with a recent … Continue reading
Posted in Agribusiness, Land and water, Uncategorized
4 Comments
It’s time for Fonterra to define the new path ahead
Fonterra has spent nearly three years stabilising its finances. The focus now has to be on finding the path ahead It is now approaching three years since Theo Spierings’ departure from Fonterra was announced. The focus ever since has been … Continue reading
Posted in Agribusiness, Dairy, Fonterra, Uncategorized
16 Comments
Agriculture will change but pastoral agriculture will survive and prosper
Agriculture will change but pastoral agriculture will survive and prosper. It is all about international competitive advantage, new technologies and managing the environment. It can be done but it won’t be easy. One of the regular questions I am asked … Continue reading
Posted in Agribusiness, Dairy, Land and water, Uncategorized
12 Comments
Green-lipped mussels are becoming heavy lifters
Hatchery technologies and open-sea farms provide the platform for new endeavours with green-lipped mussels A little over five years ago, I asked the question as to whether green-lipped mussels could be the next heavy lifter for the New Zealand export … Continue reading
Posted in Agribusiness, Land and water, mussels, The economy, Uncategorized
4 Comments
Can strong wool find a new El Dorado?
There are opportunities for strong wool based on quality and sustainability but it needs action plus applied R&D rather than more reports There was a time when strong wool was used widely for garments. That included woollen underwear, woollen shirts, … Continue reading
Posted in Agribusiness, Uncategorized, Wool
4 Comments
