Meat matters

Action is needed to revive our flagging meat industry.

Lamb returns in the UK market are at their highest, but our sheep and beef farmers are struggling.

The announcement by the Meat Industry Association and Beef + Lamb New Zealand for a joint strategy to lift the industry’s performance is exactly the sort of action needed.

The Government has thrown its support behind the initiative because we are committed to restoring profitability to the meat sector.

It is only with concerted co-operation from everyone involved that we will see results.

New Zealand’s meat sector represents nearly $6 billion in export receipts and supports thousands of jobs.

Our farmers are efficient and innovative producers of high value products and the world is demanding more.

But with more and more land being converted to dairying and forestry, farmers must be convinced that there is a future in sheep and beef farming.

This new partnership is an obvious link to the future profitability of the sector.

Success at Fieldays

Two words to sum up the biggest event on our farming calendar – ‘fantastic Fieldays’.

The four-day rural showcase was a triumph for the organisers, with more than 120,000 people going through the gates of Mystery Creek, up from 117,000 last year.

The growing international connection was particularly notable with trade exhibitors from China, France, Italy, Argentina, Chile and the UK amongst those on show. This was really great to see.

The good relationship between farmers and the Government was clearly evident on the day the Prime Minister and I visited Mystery Creek. Sure, a small number of farmers wanted to voice their concerns about the Emissions Trading Scheme but this gave me a chance to debate the facts and give some realistic costs of the scheme, not the blatantly wrong figures some have been using.

As the largest agricultural showcase in the Southern Hemisphere, Fieldays shows how New Zealand agriculture is leading the world, and the important role rural communities play in our prosperity.

The theme of this year’s Fieldays was innovation and this was evident on many of the stands with organisers reporting new products and smart ideas driving good sales growth. It will be interesting to see the final sales results when they come through.

A highlight for me was the opportunity to officially announce next year’s theme – ‘Breaking Barriers to Productivity’. This is all about coming up with solutions to obstacles that stifle productivity in the primary sector.

As Minister of Agriculture, I am working hard to help deliver exactly these solutions.

How much carbon with your lamb chop?

New Zealand lamb is shipped to supermarkets around the world. I saw this first hand at a supermarket in China recently.

The distance from New Zealand to export markets has in the past stirred up the food mile debate, so I was pleased to see the lamb industry’s new carbon footprint study which largely debunks the argument.

The report measured greenhouse gas emissions involved in the production, processing, transportation and consumption of exported lamb.

The study found transportation of lamb from New Zealand to the world is a minor percentage of emissions. And in fact, British shoppers create more emissions between picking up their lamb from the supermarket and serving it for Sunday lunch.

Now we have a real measure the next step is management and reduction.

View the lamb footprinting study

Centre stage

The Government's commitment to responding sensibly to climate change and encouraging science and innovation was underlined recently when the Prime Minister and I opened the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre in Palmerston North.

This centre marks a new era for agricultural emissions research.

It will support New Zealand in taking a significant leap forward in meeting the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture while increasing productivity.

New Zealand must meet its international commitments to the Kyoto Protocol and it must support farmers and growers to achieve this through new technologies.
As a country we have the need, we have the expertise and now we have the channel through which we will meet our commitments and lead the world in pastoral livestock research.

The centre, established as part of the Government’s Primary Growth Partnership initiative, will receive $5 million of direct government funding each year for the next 10 years.

Dairy cow care

Animal welfare is high on the public’s agenda.

The public expects animals under our care to be well looked after and not to suffer unnecessarily. There is nothing complicated about these expectations.

Globally New Zealand has good standing when it comes to animal welfare and I am determined to safeguard that reputation.

In fact, I am committed to raising standards.

The new Animal Welfare Code for Dairy Cattle provides immediate animal welfare gains for the majority of dairy cattle in New Zealand.

It provides clear guidelines about the handling and management of dairy cattle and leaves farmers in no doubt about the standards of welfare they should meet.

It covers all areas of dairy cattle management from handling and husbandry practices, to food, water, shelter and health.

The dairy industry, with its involvement in developing this code, has taken a positive and proactive approach to animal welfare. Its continued leadership will be vital in ensuring that the standards in this code are met and even exceeded.

New chapter for wool

As Winston Churchill once said: “If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.”

And it is the future 35 wool sector leaders focused on, when they agreed to adopt the recommendations of the Wool Taskforce report Restoring Profitability to the Strong Wool Sector.

It is an encouraging step forward for the New Zealand wool industry and I’m hopeful it marks the beginning of a new chapter.

There has been robust discussion about the report, but everyone agrees that forming a ‘single voice’ to act on behalf of the industry is a vital first step in ensuring the sector’s future.

The answer doesn’t lie with any of the existing organisations, but rather with a clean slate approach.

I am now seeking an independent expert to work on forming a single body for the New Zealand wool industry. This convenor will begin the task of unifying an industry that has been fragmented for far too long.

Future-proofing with Tracing Scheme

We have recently given the green light to a livestock tracing scheme which will protect New Zealand’s excellent food safety reputation in international markets and help boost biosecurity.

The National Animal Identification Traceability (NAIT) project is a vital key towards future-proofing New Zealand agriculture.

It is primarily a data recording and collection system which will be compulsory, initially, for cattle farmers, followed a year later by deer farmers. It will start rolling out from October next year.

While NAIT has copped some flak, the decision is really a no-brainer. If we ignore the fact that most of our major trading partners already have animal ID systems in place and we fail to keep up, we will lose precious market share.

There will be a cost to farmers of around $2 more than what they are currently paying for non-electronic ear tags. But the focus is on ensuring that the tracing system is affordable for farmers and the wider industry.
The majority of farmers who I have spoken to agree that NAIT is an important step for New Zealand agriculture and I have been happy to see that many industry organisations also support the Government’s move.

New Zealand punches above its weight when it comes to accessing world markets and meeting the demands of our increasingly discerning consumers. NAIT is a logical step towards ensuring market confidence in our products and providing the best biosecurity protection and response possible.

For more information on the NAIT scheme you can visit the MAF website here or click here for a fact sheet.

Growing our Future

New Zealand farmers are sitting on a multi-billion dollar crop if the value of pasture renewal is anything to go by.

Last week I launched an economic report which shows that we could add $1.6 billion to the New Zealand economy by treating pasture as a crop, rather than something incidental to the business of creating meat, wool and dairy products. There was a great crowd of industry players there to hear about what pasture renewal can add to our economy.

The report, by the Pasture Renewal Charitable Trust, is the first on the value of pasture to the economy and the figures are very impressive. The Trust is working hard to fill a gap and improve knowledge of methods available and the implications that some often simple measures can have for farmers.

I hope that this report will encourage farmers to look at pasture development in a new way – as an essential part of their businesses.

Photo: Hon David Carter and Murray Willocks (Chairman of PRCT) with pasture examples

Saving the Mighty Kauri

Every Kiwi would agree that kauri is a treasured species that must be protected for future generations.

This made our recent pledge of $4.7 million to help save kauri threatened by a disease known as ‘kauri dieback’ all the more significant.

The total fund for the future management of kauri dieback now stands at $9.8 million, thanks in part to the support of several regional councils working closely with government agencies and Maori to combat the threat.

The disease is attacking kauri trees in the upper North Island and on Great Barrier Island. It is a serious biosecurity threat to kauri which, as New Zealanders, we are duty-bound to protect.

Our ancient kauri forests are a really important part of our ecosystem, as well as being part of our heritage. This funding will help us to maintain them into the future.

PGP Open For Business

On September 16th, I hosted a function at Parliament for around 100 people to officially launch the Primary Growth Partnership.

This major initiative, announced in the Budget, will see up to $140 million a year injected into primary sector growth and innovation. This is a huge investment for a country of our size, and it will bring huge benefits.

The Prime Minister and Bill Falconer, who will chair the Investment Advisory Panel, also spoke and both of them are very excited about the opportunities that PGP will bring to the primary sector.

Main players across the entire primary sector were at the function and people I spoke to were looking forward to getting involved in PGP.

This is the key to the success of the Primary Growth Partnership. It’s all about industry involvement; the PGP is truly a 50/50 partnership.

Since May, a lot of work has gone into developing the criteria for deciding the projects that will receive PGP funding, and the six-member Investment Advisory Panel is now up and running.

Bill Falconer is joined on the panel by John Brakenridge, Dr Kevin Marshall, Colin McKenzie, Joanna Perry and Jamie Tuuta. It’s great to have such an experienced team.

The Primary Growth Partnership is now open for business and I anticipate many fascinating and innovative ideas coming forward.