AGRIBUSINESS
ANIMAL HEALTH
Catchment group makes good progress. PAGE 18-19
New Johne’s test unveiled. PAGE 26
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS Changes ahead for NZ tractor market.
PAGE 28
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS OCTOBER 5, 2021: ISSUE 736
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Vets give up! SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
QUALIFIED OVERSEAS vets are giving up on plans to work in New Zealand because they cannot secure MIQ spots. Despite the Government granting 50 border class exceptions three months ago, only two vets have arrived in the country. Two others are on their way and six are awaiting MIQ spots. NZ Veterinary Association chief executive Kevin Bryant told Rural News that others have hit the “pause button”. “The situation is hopeless,” he says. “We have a good process in place with Ministry for Primary Industries and Immigration NZ but the roadblock is MIQ.” Overseas vets need to plan their move to NZ. They have to give three months notice to employers back
home, pack up belongings and in some cases arrange schooling. Bryant says vets are reluctant to plan with no guarantee of MIQ spaces. “Some of them are saying why even apply for visas when there is no MIQ space available.” The delay in arrival of overseas vets is exacerbating the situation in vet clinics around the country. About 50% of the shortage is in rural areas. Bryant says the association has worked well with MPI and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor to get border class exception for an additional 50 general practice veterinarians to enter the country. “But MPI don’t control MIQ, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment (MBIE) does that,” he says. “There’s a limit to what MPI can do.” Bryant says the NZVA is trying to “lift understanding” within MBIE. Julie South of recruitment agency, VetStaff agrees that securing an MIQ space is the major hurdle. South says it’s clear that the government departments – Immigration NZ, MPI and MBIE – “aren’t on the same page” when it comes to allowing critical overseas workers in. “I would have expected that when one government department signs off on something to do with an essential worker – like getting them here – that
other government departments would all be on the same page to make sure essential workers could get into NZ as soon as possible,” she told Rural News. South says she’s flabbergasted that MBIE won’t set aside MIQ spaces to allow essential workers to get into NZ so they can work here. A survey by NZVA earlier this year showed that 120 extra vets were needed by clinics around the country. The delay in arrivals is making a bad situation worse. Bryant believes the lack of action is jeopardising the wellbeing of animals. He says NZVA are concerned about the possible impact of delaying things any further. • Petition launched – page 3
Breaking the ice! Three enterprising Mackenzie College (Fairlie) students may well have come up with the perfect solution to an age-old problem of livestock accessing water from frozen troughs. Hamish Ryall, 16, Luke Jordan, 15 and Amy Hay, 16, have invented a device that is inserted into water troughs to prevent them from freezing over. The trio’s FrostEase Flexi Mat device is designed to stop water troughs from icing over during winter in the Mackenzie Country and other parts of the country. – See more page 15
Covid impacts GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY caused by Covid and related disruption to supply chains, as well a global shortage of labour, are cited as contributing factors to a forecast drop in NZ red meat export returns. That’s the crux of Beef+Lamb NZ’s (B+LNZ) new season outlook report, which was published last week. Chief economist Andrew Burtt says receipts from red meat exports will be about $8 billion, slightly down on 2020-21. While lamb export receipts are forecast to increase by 2.2% to $3.6 billion on 2020-21. Beef and veal export receipts are forecast to decline by 7% to $3.9 billion, driven by a decline in production and the adverse impact of the high NZ dollar on export values. However, Burtt says the overall outlook is positive, with the fundamentals in key markets seen as solid. He says there is strong demand and tight supply, meaning prices in export markets are forecast to lift for both sheepmeat and beef. On farm, the lamb crop this season is expected to be 22.8 million – up point 9% on last year, reflecting an increase in ewe and hogget lambing percentages. On the beef side, export production is forecast to be down by 5%. According to the report, farmer confidence is mixed. While on-farm profitability is positive, resilience is being tested by the volatility of adverse weather events and the extent of environmental regulation.
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