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Genomic sheep selection tool gets an upgrade. PAGE 30
Spray resistance a big problem. PAGE 12
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TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS SEPTEMBER 7, 2021: ISSUE 734
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Labour pains!
STILL WAITING PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
OVERSEAS WORKERS on their way here to drive machinery and pick fruit could be affected by last week’s decision to pause the release of MIQ rooms. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) announced last week that MIQ facilities which were used to accommodate returnees from overseas are now being used for community cases. More facilities and more rooms will be needed as the outbreak unfolds. “The Government has decided to extend the pause on the release and re-release of rooms for a short period until the situation becomes clearer,” it says. Rural Contractors New Zealand
(RCNZ) expects 125 machinery operators to arrive in the country between now and December. About 150 fruit pickers from selected Pacific countries are expected to start arriving every 16 days from the end of this month. MIQ rooms for these arrivals are booked under ‘time sensitive travel allocation’ approved by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). RCNZ chief executive Andrew Olsen told Rural News that the first
cohort of arrivals, making up 65% of the total contingent, is expected within the next two months. The rest will arrive between November and December. “I have spoken to MPI and they tell me there’s no change to our arrangement.” Apples and Pears NZ chief executive Alan Pollard says the hort sector has MIQ rooms booked until November. He says while some arrivals were deferred in recent weeks, planning for
Get jabbed! IT WAS deja vu all over again for MPI director general Ray Smith, who was working from his home in Wellington again last week, during the last Covid lockdown. Smith says the primary sector has handled the Covid crisis extremely well so far and things are running much more smoothly in the current lockdowns. However, he warns that a lot of challenges lie ahead as the sector winds up for the busy time of year. Smith says the focus, right now, should be on keeping all of the workers safe and keeping production and systems moving. He says it’s about QR codes, bubbles, masks, TB temperature checks and social distancing where you can. Getting vaccinated against Covid is important and Smith is urging all those in rural areas to find the nearest place to get their jabs. He says there are lots more vaccination stations in rural areas now. – See full story page 4.
these flights and spaces continues. In addition, the Government recently announced one way quarantine-free travel from Vanuatu, Samoa and Tonga. Pollard says planning is well advanced on putting in place the steps needed to make this happen. “We were hopeful that these flights would commence in September, but realistically it is more likely to be October,” he adds.
BRITISH AND New Zealand trade negotiators are burning the midnight oil in a bid to get a free trade agreement between the two countries. Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor had a Zoom call about the talks with his UK counterpart, Liz Truss, last week. When the pair met in July, they made much play of the fact that they would try and come to an agreement in principle by the end of August. At the time, O’Connor noted the pressure was on to get an agreement but conceded there were sensitive issues. Only recently, the former NZ High Commissioner and trade minister, Sir Lockwood Smith, stated that the FTA with the UK was there to be had and if the present government didn’t do a deal it would be a massive failure on their part. Last week, as Rural News went to press, there was still no deal. However, O’Connor is hopeful of a deal and said that negotiations were “continuing” toward reaching an agreement in principle. “However, as we have always said, we need that agreement to be commercially meaningful for our exporters.” O’Connor says NZ remains committed to negotiating a high quality, comprehensive and inclusive FTA with the UK.
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