ANIMAL HEALTH Double honour for Massey veterinarian. PAGE 39
MACHINERY Des James: Sub-soiling pioneer leaves his mark. PAGE 43
RURALNEWS
MANAGEMENT Lower payout does not mean lower environmental goals.
PAGE 31
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS
AUGUST 18, 2015: ISSUE 590
www.ruralnews.co.nz
TPP critics given serve DAVID ANDERSON
NZ’S SPECIAL agriculture trade envoy Mike Petersen has given the Labour Party and others a serve over its clearly “political” stance and “ridiculous claims” about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations. In a detailed interview with Rural News on the TPP negotiations, Petersen has expressed disappointment at the Labour opposition’s apparent change of heart over free trade deals. “I am very disappointed the Labour Party has turned TPP into a political platform and broken what appeared to be a very constructive and bi-partisan
position on trade,” he says. “However, I would like to think that when the deal is concluded and proceeds through the ratification process, this position will be reversed. There are enough rational thinkers on trade in the Labour Party to enable this to happen.” Petersen also dismisses critics’ claims that NZ’s negotiators will sell off the country’s sovereignty in an effort to sign up to the TPP. “I am close to the negotiations – without being directly involved – and
I assure you our negotiators are not going to sell NZ’s sovereignty,” he said. “I would urge [the critics] to wait until the final deal is agreed before passing judgement on these aspects and I believe that when the deal is completed the NZ public will be surprised at how good it is and how ridiculous some of the claims have been.” Meanwhile, Petersen believes if a deal is agreed, then he and others will need to turn around the public understanding and perception of what the
TPP will actually mean for NZ. He says this has been tainted by ill-informed scaremongering led by the likes of leftwing academic Jane Kelsey. “There is no doubt that, assuming we close this deal, one of my key roles, with others in the primary sector, will be to help the public understand the benefits for NZ. These are jobs, economic growth, wealth creation and a future for our young people.” • For the full interview with Mike Petersen go to pages 12-14
BACK ON THE SHEEP'S BACK? While some commentators are spreading doom and gloom about the low dairy pay-out, others such as KPMG’s global head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot are busy talking up the success of other sectors of the primary industry. The meat industry, horticulture – especially kiwifruit are running hot at the moment. There is also lots of smart ideas emerging on how farmers can cut costs to improve the long term profitability of their operations. Sheep are very much on the horizon for the future as NZ looks to position its primary sector to take advantage of future opportunities. More on pages 6-7
CAVIAR OF THE FUTURE PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
GRASS-FED MEAT out of New Zealand is the “caviar of the future”, says Stu Chapman, who stepped down this month as Elders NZ managing director after 21 years with the company. Agriculture in NZ has a big future, says Chapman. “We are a food bowl, there is no doubt,” he told Rural News. “We must protect our biosecurity; we need to protect our borders and the fact that we are seen as a supplier of quality food through different parts of the world. “We need to make sure we hang onto that NZ Inc brand because we are not a low cost producer any more. “There are a lot of countries around the world that can produce that same product cheaper than us but we have a reputation as delivering quality safe products.” Chapman says he can’t remember the last time sheepmeat, beef meat and wool were well ahead of dairy, as they are now. The red meat sector in NZ has bright prospects. “Grass-fed meat out of NZ is potentially the caviar of the future,” he says. “So for me the sheep and cattle future looks extremely bright and exciting.” • Chapman steps down page 19
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