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AGMARDT appoints new GM
News AGMARDT appoints new GM
AGMARDT has appointed global marketer LeeAnn Marsh as its new general manager.
Marsh joins AGMARDT following four-and-ahalf years at Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ). She replaces Malcolm Nitschke.
Specialising in innovation and consumer insights, Marsh began her career in Toronto before moving to London in 2006, where she worked with blue chip clients across fast-moving consumer packaged goods (FMCG), healthcare and technology.
She moved to New Zealand at the end of 2010, working for Fonterra and Nestlé prior to joining B+LNZ as global market innovation manager in 2017.
“AGMARDT has a unique place in the food and fibre innovation ecosystem,” Lee-Ann, who starts the Auckland-based role on August 23, said.
“It enables innovative individuals and groups to access funding to support the development of early transformative ideas. We want to encourage those who may not view themselves as innovators or leaders to step forward and give things a go.
“AGMARDT is also a fantastic connector, and as someone who loves to see the big picture and connect the dots, I’m looking forward to stepping into a role that will enable me to do that in new ways.
“AGMARDT not only has a positive impact on individuals and the food and fibre sectors, but also the prosperity of Aotearoa and the globe. This is really exciting and I’m privileged to now be a part of that.
“While I know I have some pretty big gumboots to fill, the strong platform that Malcolm and the trustees past and present have created for AGMARDT over the past eight years has given me a strong foundation to build on. AGMARDT has always been an innovative and agile organisation and I aim to carry on this legacy.”
Marsh says she is looking forward to connecting with NZ agribusinesses and research organisations, and learning more about the unique challenges and opportunities, including those for aquaculture and horticulture.
“I’m also keen to expand AGMARDT’s networks to other groups, such as Māori agribusiness, and those outside the traditional agri sector who are passionate about people and the planet and looking for ways to solve some of the big problems we face today in terms of climate, health and nutrition. I believe in every challenge there is an opportunity,” she said.
She is also interested in bringing her consumer lens to her new role.
“After years of working in consumer insights, it’s now second nature for me to ask what consumer segment needs or problems can we solve for. I’m looking forward to sharing my knowledge and insights with the food and fibre sectors to support stronger consumer-centricity and connection to key markets,” she said.
Meanwhile, Nick Pyke will be taking over as chair of AGMARDT from September, replacing Richard Green.
B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor says the organisation will be recruiting for the global market innovation role shortly.
“Lee-Ann leaves with our best wishes. She can take a lot of credit for the progress B+LNZ has made in the market development space over the past few years,” he said.
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WOMAN IN CHARGE: Newly appointed Lee-Ann Marsh replaces Malcolm Nitschke as general manager.
Photo: KateLittlePhoto
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BENEFICIAL: Top contenders include wealthy nations like Switzerland and Norway, which offer a high ease of trading across borders.
Countries that NZ needs on its FTA list
SWITZERLAND and Norway top the list of at least 22 economies New Zealand should be looking to develop stronger trade ties with, according to a new report commissioned by the NZ International Business Forum.
“Diversification has become a fashionable concept recently, but the real aim is ensuring that New Zealand businesses enjoy maximum optionality in markets,” NZIBF chair Philip Gregan said.
“If there is anything that the last few years of global trade turbulence have shown it is that exporters and importers need to be able to pivot, sometimes at very short notice, and that is very difficult to do in the face of tariff and non-tariff barriers.”
There has been growing concern that NZ may depend too much on a handful of trading partners, with 31% of the nation’s merchandise goods exports going to China in the 12 months to May 31.
While NZ has been active in negotiating bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) for almost 40 years, it still has no existing or planned preferential market access with almost 40% of the world’s economy and consumers, according to the report by Sense Partners.
These countries account for 16.1% of NZ’s current goods trade, but represent 37% of global GDP and 38% of the world’s population.
The report focused entirely on new FTAs and excludes any countries NZ was negotiating with or that were long-standing targets, such as the US.
The report used a data-driven approach, with the analysis largely shaped by goods trade and heavily weighted towards the primary sector.
Its FTA Partner Suitability Index included 29 criteria, such as population, income levels and growth, existing trade links, and revealed comparative advantage in dairy and meat.
Of the 22 other nations, the top spot is Switzerland followed by Norway.
In both cases, key advantages were the fact that they’re wealthy nations, with high ease of trading across borders and both are party to negotiations for a global Trade in Services Agreement.
On the downside, Switzerland has very high meat and dairy trade barriers, while Norway has a highly protected agricultural sector.
Switzerland imported an annual average of $135 million worth of NZ goods from 2018 to 2020, while Norway imported $47m.
The list also included South Africa, which imported $184m of Kiwi goods, Nigeria at $189m and Algeria, which imported $472m of goods.
The report also raised some questions about how FTAs are negotiated.
It noted NZ’s approach was always a principled one and sought the elimination of all tariffs on all products.
“This approach makes sense for negotiations with large countries where we have a wide range of commercial interests spanning the primary sector, manufactured goods, services and investment,” the report said.
However, its analysis of the next tranche of FTA partners showed “existing trade relationships tend to be very narrow” and centred on a handful of individual broad product groups.
The report questioned whether it would be possible to sign a FTA with a country that was focused on the meat sector, for example. Or could NZ contemplate an FTA with Israel centred on tech sector interests, with traditional goods market access given less priority, at least initially.
It noted a targeted approach should be less resource-intensive for NZ negotiators and still deliver commercially meaningful gains.
“This break from tradition would no doubt be uncomfortable and would require careful planning and external communication,” it said.
However, “we would argue a one-size-fits-all FTA template makes little sense when looking at the next tranche of potential FTA partners.”
– BusinessDesk
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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 5, 2021 19 Farmer confidence on the up
FARMER confidence has lifted for the third time in a row on the back of the strong pricing outlook, the latest Rabobank rural confidence survey of the year has found.
The latest survey – completed earlier this month – found the number of farmers expecting the rural economy to improve in the next 12 months increased from 29-32%, while the number expecting the rural economy to worsen remained at 19%.
A total of 50% were expecting similar conditions, down from 53%.
Rabobank New Zealand chief executive Todd Charteris says the lift in farmer sentiment was being fuelled by a strong commodity pricing outlook, despite increasing concerns about aspects of Government policy and the impact of labour shortages on the rural sector.
“Farmers are now marginally more positive about the prospects for the agricultural economy in the coming 12 months.
“And the key reason for this is rising commodity prices, with this cited by well over half of those holding an optimistic view of the year ahead,” Charteris said.
Prices were expected to remain strong moving into the second half of the year.
The lift in farmer sentiment came despite rising farmer concerns over Government policy.
“Of the one-in-five farmers with a pessimistic view of the agricultural economy, 82% cited Government policy as a key reason for concern. And while we’ve seen government policy feature as the major concern for farmers across recent surveys, this percentage is an increase on recent quarters,” he said.
“There are several Government policies which may be causing unease among farmers, however, this spike is likely attributable to concerns linked to the recently-finalised advice from the Climate Change Commission, which could have potentially significant implications for New Zealand land-use and farming systems, including future reductions in total livestock numbers.”
He says worker shortages also remained a significant concern for farmers.
“Among pessimistic farmers, 50% cited ‘other’ reasons for expecting the performance of the agri economy to worsen, with labour shortages the most frequently mentioned factor in the corresponding verbatim responses,” he said.
“For the first time, we also asked all farmers additional questions in the survey about the impact of labour shortages on their business. In response to these, 40% of farmers said they ‘have been’ or ‘will be’ impacted by labour shortages, with this figure rising to 64% among horticulturalists.”
Charteris says farmers also indicated labour shortages were now a significantly bigger problem than 12 months ago.
“Only 3% of farmers indicated the issue had improved since last year, with 43% saying it had worsened,” he said.
“The responses to these questions reflect the conversations we’re having with our clients on this topic and it’s clear industry leaders and the Government still have plenty of work to do to mitigate the strain of worker shortages.
“Over recent months, we’ve raised this issue with a range of Government ministers and we’ll continue to highlight the feedback we’re getting from sector participants on this matter in our ongoing dialogue with the Government.”
The survey found farmers’ expectations for their own farm business performance were up on the previous quarter, increasing to a net reading of +16% from +7% in the previous quarter.
Farmers’ investment intentions were also slightly lower than in the last quarter, falling to a net reading of +11% from +13% previously. A total of 24% of farmers were expecting to increase farm investment in the coming 12 months (down from 25%) with 13% intending to decrease investment (up from 12%) and the remainder expecting to invest the same.
SILVER LINING: Although concerns remain among farmers regarding Government policies, strong commodity prices have lifted farmer confidence.
Todd Charteris Rabobank
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