When aspirations trip up the export/import balance – Simon Davies:
As a country if we don’t want to lose half our shirt we need to ensure we are earning at least what we are spending, writes Otago Federated Farmers President Simon Davies.
I’ve heard several people of late, including a current labour MP, question the need for our farmers to produce more food than New Zealand needs for its own consumption.
It got me thinking …
When I was at high school, which was more than a couple of decades ago, one of my elective courses was economics. . .
Declining dairy farm values are likely to continue – Keith Woodford:
Dairy farm values have been declining now for well over a year and there is no sign they will stabilise. The key issue is a lack of buyers with the necessary finance. The implications are starting to get serious.
There are multiple reasons why there is a lack of buyers. The biggest one is a change in bank lending policies. Those policies are set in Melbourne and Sydney where the big banks are headquartered.
None of the Big Four banks are interested in new dairy lending unless the investor has high equity. The related policy is that all banks now want repayments of principal whereas interest-only loans were the norm for many years. At least two of the Big Four banks are actively trying to reduce their exposure to New Zealand dairying. . .
Taranaki in 2050: Technology and diverse land use twin futures of farming – Deena Coster:
When Hamish and Kate Dunlop first floated the idea of using their land to grow quinoa, they raised more than a few eyebrows within the farming fraternity.
The Taranaki couple, who have four children, wanted to diversify the way they were using their 400 hectare Ararata Rd farm, and initially looked at growing hemp.
However, after some more research, they decided to go with the South American edible seed instead. . .
From Taranaki hives to US shelves: Journey of Bees and Trees mānuka honey – Alyssa Smith:
When someone from the US puts honey on their toast in the morning, there is a good chance that honey has come from Taranaki.
To get it from Taranaki to the US, American businessman Mike Everly commutes between his home town of Atlanta, Georgia to Taranaki three to four times a year.
It’s a route he knows well. He has been doing it for 10 years now, and he says he doesn’t plan to stop.
Mike is the founder of Bees and Trees honey, a company which sells authentic Taranaki honey in the United States. . .
Is NZ on the cusp of a hemp revolution? – Amy Ridout:
In the 20 years since Pam Coleman has been on her 80-hectare rural property near Ngatimoti, north-west of Nelson, she has let the land take over.
The golden hay meadows buzz with life, and kanuka and manuka have overtaken the gorse. The couple raise rare-breed sheep, grow olives and make cheese.
When the law changed a year ago to add hemp seeds to the list of allowable food products in New Zealand, Coleman began reading up.
“I thought, that’s it, that’s the way to go,” she said. . .
Marijuana licensing rules to create route – Brent Melville:
It will cost about $12,500 a year to possess, manufacture and supply medicinal cannabis products.
New licensing rules for the legal manufacture and distribution of medicinal cannabis will create a route to market for dozens of companies that have, to date, been limited to research.
Announcing the new quality and licensing regime last week, Minister of Health David Clark said the regulations would help ease the pain of thousands of people. . .
Red meat plays vital role in diets, claims expert in fightback against veganism – James Tapper:
Advocates of red meat will begin a fightback against the growth of veganism this week at the UK’s biggest farming conference, with claims that eating lamb and beef is vital because some plants and fish are being drained of their nutrition.
In a speech at the Oxford Farming Conference, Alice Stanton will tell ministers, farmers and environmentalists that key nutrients in some fruits, vegetables and grains have dropped by up to 50% over 50 years.
Stanton, professor of cardiovascular pharmacology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, said nutrition levels had dropped because farmers were trying to meet a demand for cheap food. “For plant-based foods, there’s been drops in vitamins and key electrolytes by up to 50% over the past 50 years because of the genetic selection for large volume and uniformity of shape and appearance, so the things look good on the shelves. There hasn’t been selection for nutrient content,” she told the Observer. . .
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