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Recent Posts
- Fonterra’s new capital structure gets closer
- Are pine trees the problem or the solution?
- He Waka Eke Noa is now the main game in rural politics
- HWEN submission
- Forestry rules about to be upturned
- He Waka Eke Noa caught in crosswinds
- Carbon farming is back in the melting pot
- Agriculture’s greenhouse gas proposals need a reset
- The carbon price marches on
- 2022 will be tumultuous for New Zealand’s primary industries
- Economic storm clouds lie ahead
- Managing inflation will be painful
- Crunch times ahead for agricultural methane and nitrous oxide
- New twists to carbon farming
- Dairy is a key to New Zealand’s future
- Wrestling with forestry decisions
- The COVID trajectory has taken off
- New Zealand needs a COVID reset
- Post-1989 forest owners face complex decisions
- Fonterra moves on strategy and stucture
- The ETS is both a goldmine and a minefield
- Carbon farming will determine the future of sheep, beef and production forestry
- Institutional investors outgun Government at carbon auction
- Food-derived opioids are a medical frontier
- Carbon farmers need to understand the ETS
- Carbon-farming economics are also attractive on easier country
- 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
Category Archives: Agribusiness
HWEN submission
Readers of this website will be aware that I have been supportive of the HeWaka Eke Noa (HWEN) concept as an alternative to agriculture being included in the ETS (Emission trading System). However I have been critical of what I … Continue reading
Posted in Agribusiness, greenhouse gases, Uncategorized
12 Comments
2022 will be tumultuous for New Zealand’s primary industries
This year is not going to be just any year for the food and fibre industries. On the prices front, things should go well for most products. However, on the policy front, it is the second year of the three-year … Continue reading
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