Government inaction costing Hawkes Bay horticulture more than $1m a day :
Failure by the Government to provide further direction in cyclone ravaged Hawke’s Bay is costing the local horticulture industry more than $1m a day.
‘Growers in the Hawke’s Bay are extremely frustrated by the lack of leadership from the Government,’ says HortNZ President, Barry O’Neil.
‘Hawkes Bay horticulture contributes more than $1.2 billion to the New Zealand economy and employs more than 6700 permanent workers. Growers are being forced to lay off people, which will have an immediate and significant flow on effect in the region, economically and socially.
‘This Government promised further direction in early April but here we are today, in early May, and we still don’t have the decisions needed on land use and infrastructure rebuild that our industry needs to move on and recover.’ . .
Crunch time for farmers’ emission deadline – Gerald Piddock :
The government’s climate change legislation may have to be amended to give more time for a farmgate emissions pricing plan to get off the ground as it looks increasingly unlikely that it will be in place by 2025, a dairy industry leader says.
DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel said there is a lot of pressure coming to meet that 2025 deadline – and if it’s not met, farming emissions are set to be folded into the ETS.
“There is legislation drafted at the moment that will have us in the ETS in 2025 and we have to get that changed,” he said.
That legislation – the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Reform) Amendment Bill – puts agriculture into the ETS at farm level for livestock emissions, and processor level for fertiliser emissions in 2025. . .
Dive in log prices making harvesting uneconomic :
Logging exporters are being blamed for the current dive in log prices to a level where harvesting is uneconomic.
Between March and April log prices dropped 14 percent to $112 – $115 for an A-grade log.
Laurie Forestry managing director Allan Laurie said prices needed to be “north of $120” to be economic for harvesters.
Laurie said the situation, which had happened before, was incredibly frustrating because it was predictable and avoidable. . .
Long serving rural nurse has three Budget wishes :
Auckland rural practice nurse and NZNO member Ros Gallagher is worried about the future of nursing in Aotearoa New Zealand but has made three wishes for Budget 2023 on 18 May.
Ms Gallagher has been a rural nurse for 29 years. She is concerned at the way nurses who work in Primary Health Care and in particular general practice continue to be treated.
Despite the best efforts of herself an others in the union, general and rural practice nurses have again been excluded from the Government’s payments to address Pay Parity and Gallagher said this has felt like another kick in the guts.
She feels angry, sad, disappointed, and personally very devalued, but says proper funding through the Budget would be a good start to appeasing nurses’ woes. . .
Ballance and Fonterra join forces to streamline data sharing for farmers and growers :
Ballance Agri-Nutrients and Fonterra, two of New Zealand’s largest primary sector co-operatives are working together to streamline data sharing to make life easier for their joint customers.
Ballance, a farmer and grower owned co-operative has been supporting primary sector communities for over 70 years, contributing to New Zealand’s position as a leading global producer of premium sustainable food and fibre. Ballance actively works with its farmers to help them manage their nutrient usage and help them respond to new regulations.
“We are really pleased to announce that we have developed a solution that will help our customers who supply Fonterra save valuable time and effort,” says Jason Minkhorst, Ballance’s GM of Sales.
“We recognise that it can be frustrating to enter the same information into multiple systems for different reporting needs, which is why we have worked with Fonterra to create a solution that streamlines the sharing of data between our two Co-Operatives.” . .
New hop varieties for New Zealand’s largest grower :
A new collaboration between Clayton Hops and Plant & Food Research will see new varieties of hops being grown in Aotearoa New Zealand, offering brewers worldwide exciting novel flavours.
Clayton Hops, New Zealand’s largest hop grower, have partnered with Plant & Food Research to evaluate a suite of advanced selections from the Plant & Food Research hop programme. These selections, chosen for their unique flavour and aroma characteristics, will offer Clayton Hops customers exclusive access to an enhanced portfolio of hop products designed with brewers in mind.
“Clayton Hops is excited to now be fully integrated right from new variety development through to processing, packaging and marketing,” says CEO Brian Clayton. “New Zealand hop varieties are known worldwide for their unique flavours and aromas and they are particularly valued by the growing craft brewing sector. This new partnership with Plant & Food Research is an opportunity to introduce unique varieties to the global market and ensure that New Zealand is regarded as truly innovative and competitive amongst the increasingly diverse and sophisticated global hop industry.”
Clayton Hops has four hop farms totalling 1,350 acres in the Tasman region at the top of New Zealand’s South Island. The family-owned company has fully integrated facilities, including modern harvesting systems and a new world-class processing, packing and storage facility which provides a platform for high volume and exceptional quality processing as well as exciting new, innovative product formats such as cryogenically made super-concentrated hop pellets which will be in production late this year. . .
New Zealand persimmon season in great shape after a challenging start :
New Zealand’s short but sweet persimmon season is now underway with the 2023 crop of these vibrant orange, honey-flavoured fruit available in stores from May to July.
Persimmons are grown commercially across the top half of the North Island, so most of the country’s growers have felt the full force of both cyclones Hale and Gabrielle this season.
Ian Turk, Manager of the New Zealand Persimmon Industry Council says that the unprecedented weather will have an affect on the volume of fruit available this year.
“Fortunately, our orchards largely escaped structural or flood damage. However the wet and windy summer has presented a challenge to growers with our overall crop expected to be lower than normal and some shoppers may notice minor marks and blemishes from wind damage,” he says. . .
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