Category Archives: Meat Industry

Agricultural GDP leaves out more than it includes

Posted on October 14, 2019 by

Agricultural GDP catches well under one quarter of the agribusiness system. As such it fails to capture the importance of agribusiness to the economy. One of the problems facing New Zealand’s agriculture is a widespread urban perspective that agriculture is … Continue reading →

Posted in Agribusiness, Dairy, Meat Industry | 4 Comments

Forestry decisions need to be made now

Posted on August 5, 2019 by

New Zealand’s forestry policy is in a mess. We have drifted into a situation where the big decisions are made outside of New Zealand. Governmental forestry policy is like steering a dog by the tail. And this particular dog has … Continue reading →

Posted in carbon farming, forestry, Meat Industry | 4 Comments

Zero Carbon Bill is just the start for agriculture’s greenhouse gas adaptation

Posted on May 13, 2019 by

The Zero Carbon Bill introduced to Parliament this week answers some questions but raises many others.  There are big challenges ahead for everyone, but particularly for farmers and their leaders. As always, the devil will be in the details. These … Continue reading →

Posted in Agribusiness, Dairy, Meat Industry | 5 Comments

Where to for Chiwi agrifood

Posted on April 15, 2019 by

The current plan for Chinese Yili to buy Westland Co-operative Dairy has brought renewed discussion about the role of China within New Zealand agrifood industries. Of course, the Westland issue is just one part of a much greater issue about … Continue reading →

Posted in Agribusiness, China, Dairy, Meat Industry, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

China is the key market for New Zealand sheepmeats

Posted on September 14, 2018 by

[This post first appeared online at Stuff and some of their hardcopy newspapers on 4 September 2018, but alas with the first paragraph edited out and with the title “China demand for New Zealand sheepmeat booming”.  In the process,  key … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Meat Industry | 5 Comments

Methane narrative changes with less need for drastic reduction

Posted on September 10, 2018 by

[This article was published today (10 Sept 2018) at http://www.interest.co.nz and is forthcoming in Farmers Weekly] The recent note on methane emissions  put out by Parliamentary Commissioner Simon Upton in late August, and underpinned by a contracted research report written by … Continue reading →

Posted in Dairy, Meat Industry, Science ethics and communication | 4 Comments

Exchange rate reset will breathe new life to agriculture

Posted on August 23, 2018 by

[This post was published online at Stuff and also in most Fairfax Media New Zealand newspapers on 21 August 2018 as part of my fortnightly Stuff column] The recent decline in the value of the New Zealand dollar is about … Continue reading →

Posted in Agribusiness, Dairy, Meat Industry | 1 Comment