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Cover Story
US tariffs: global fallout the focus of NZ fears
Some of New Zealand’s $1.2 billion in dairy exports to the United States could face a nearly 30% tariff after US President Donald Trump imposed a blanket 10% tariff on imports of NZ goods from this weekend. Trump this week announced details of his long-anticipated import tariffs, with Australia, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Brazil also facing a 10% rate. The European Union faces 20%.
What’s leading theonconversation the front page of WeeklyFarmers this
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Editor’s inbox
What our audience are telling us this week
Does it worry you that as farmgate returns rise, the cost of meat and milk makes it difficult for many New Zealanders to afford these foods?
YES
“The farming community should pay fully for any environmental capital they are using as if they don’t it is the New Zealand population which is subsidising farming not the other way round”
NO
“Will consumers in NZ be willing to pay more than global prices when they are lower than production cost? Not likely.”
Yes, we should subsidise the local market
No, the global market decides the price
Click here for more on the cost of living crunch
VOTE IN THIS WEEK’S POLL
Do you support the government’s decision to free up more land with high-value soils for urban development?
Have your say at farmersweekly.co.nz/poll
What’s happening on the FarmersPodcastWeekly
Talking Points
Bringing down the cost of planting natives
Forest scientist Simeon Smaill from Scion tells Bryan that if we’re to plant the number of native trees we need to, we’re going to have to apply the same scientific rigour we showed when we were focused on pine trees. ear.
Also on the Farmers Weekly podcast
News Wrap | Singapore: the food tech powerhouse
Feature | Bringing down the cost of planting natives
Feds Focus | Farmers back health and safety law overhaul
It depends on what you want your trees to do, and that’s a huge thing that we need to tailor our research to support that – people want to plant trees, and particularly natives, for a wide range of outcomes.
Simeon Smaill, Scion forest scientist, Episode: Bringing down the cost of planting natives, 04 April 2025
Top Communicator
Figured
ofShowcase effective communication or marketing
Consistency is a great card to play when it comes to introducing a new product to market.
Even if you’re not noticed on week one, you surely will be by week three or four.
That’s the tactic that Figured have employed to great effect to raise awareness of their milk price protection offer.
After three weeks in a row in prominent positions in Farmers Weekly their sleek, matter-of-fact advertisement has become too hard to ignore.
Figured have figured out a tactic that works for them. What’s yours?
What farmers say FarmersaboutWeekly
Farmer Testimonial
They’re actual stories in Farmers Weekly, from the grassroots. It’s relevant, especially thye regional saleyard and market information.
Dean Rabbidge
Wyndham sheep and beef farmer, Federated Farmers Southland
Meat and Wool Chair
Next for the newsroom
MAY 19, 2025
Fieldays® Feature
Every year the Farmers Weekly newsroom takes a detailed look at the upcoming Fieldays® for a special feature three weeks out from the event.
If you’re going to be at Fieldays® you need to be advertising in this feature.
We’ll be covering the latest technologies, the expected big announcements, views from new leadership and what innovative hubs and attractions Fieldays are bringing to the masses this year.
Click here for rates and deadlines.
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Media Monitor
Beef Country’s production
What’s hot, and what’s not in rural media here
overseasand
It’s a sad day for rural media when one of the country’s revered publications, Countrywide Media’s Beef Country, is forced to take a step backwards in production quality. Only two years ago it was a 164 page perfectly bound journal of significance. This year it’s lost its perfect binding and is instead stapled, and has been reduced by a quarter, to only 100 pages.
The lifeblood still being sucked out of local media
Part of the explanation for Beef Country’s demise can surely be attributed to the continual exodus of advertising dollars away from New Zealandowned media publications and platforms, and across to large tech companies such as Alphabet (Google) and Meta (Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook). Gavin Ellis has been tracking advertising revenue in New Zealand since 1990 and has written an informative piece that explains the demise and why it has damaging consequences to for our society. You can read it here.