NEWS
EXPORTS
The dairy boom slows but the outlook is positive for other sectors . PAGE 6
Kiwifruit demand in China is growing with demand outstripping supply. PAGE 16
RURALNEWS TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS
JUNE 17, 2014: ISSUE 563
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Meat producers feel blue P E TE R BU R K E peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
DAIRY INDUSTRY success is demoralising sheep and beef farmers, says the KPMG 2014 Agribusiness Agenda, published last week. The annual snapshot of issues in the primary sector stems from interviews with 157 industry leaders. The report says calls for reform in the red meat sector in the past year have failed to engender action and “the dairy
boom is impacting the sheep and beef sector in ways that could never have been envisaged; most significantly it is ‘destroying farmers self-esteem’,” says the report author Ian Proudfoot. “The message came through that it’s a sector without a lot of confidence” for various reasons, he told Rural News. “These include the continuous conversions to dairying and comparisons of returns from dairy with those from sheep and beef.” Also for a long time “a lot of people have held differing views
on the future of the industry and [have been unable] to rationalise some of those differences.” During past year more sheep and beef land has been converted to dairying or dairy conversion to get better financial returns. But there is no quick fix for rebuilding belief among farmers, Proudfoot says. It requires a shift in industry culture which must be driven by everyone. Some cultural change has been facilitated: FarmIQ and the Red Meat Profit
Partnership are two positives. And the Meat Industry Excellence Group has raised issues confronting the industry. Another challenge is dealing with the “parlous state of the wool industry”; sorting this out is critical to rebuilding farmer confidence. But the report says the red meat sector must look beyond gazing jealously over the fence at dairying, stop infighting and focus on long term opportunities. • More on pages 12-13
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT MAYBE PRIME Minister John Key was taking advice about the election from the man who famously once said ‘bugger the polls’ and went on to win the government benches. Former PM Jim Bolger attended National Fieldays in his capacity as chancellor of the University of Waikato, a major sponsor of the show. John Key was there to do the opening honours. More from Fieldays pages 42-43.
Oh, Friesian hell. Sometimes things out here don’t go according to plan. While it’s good to know you can rely on someone as experienced as yourself to help put them right, we can also offer practical tips and know-how learnt from growing up on the land too. So let’s talk through the tough times you could face, before they happen. Ask around about us, or for some advice call 0800 366 466. FMG0507/A
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Agriculture not lowtech! ANYONE WHO thinks agriculture is some sort of low-tech industry has got it completely wrong, says Prime Minister John Key. Speaking at the opening of National Fieldays, Key pointed to New Zealand agriculture as very high-tech, as shown by the numbers of people who come from around the world to look at our farming practices, science and innovation and take our ideas to their marketplaces. “When I look at how New Zealand is evolving, it is summed up best by looking back to the 1970s when there were 70 million sheep,” Key says. “[Today there are] 35 million yet we produce the same amount of lamb meat. Why? Because we’re better at breeding twin lambs and improving their survival rate.” New Zealand must stay focused on food safety and maintain its great reputation for producing world class food, Key says. “We must continue to work and invest in our bio-sciences and testing to ensure every consumer worldwide, when they pick up a product from New Zealand, can feel enormous confidence it’s worth paying a premium for – over and above products from other countries.” – Peter Burke