Federated Farmers has lobbied hard to promote policies that will ensure farmers, the economy and the country are all on the road to success.  Farming is NZ’s backbone and will lift us out of recession.  Federated Farmers is pleased to see delivery on research, infrastructure, water and regulatory reform during challenging economic times.   “The agricultural sector accounts for 65 percent of all exports and Budget 2009 emphasises agriculture as NZ’s largest and most important industry.  It’s welcome realism,” says Don Nicolson, Federated Farmers President.

“The Government has walked a tightrope in looking to boost productivity and competitiveness without flaming debt. “That said, business is facing a very difficult environment and many NZers are being insulated at the expense of business.  Its okay to ‘preserve entitlements’ for workers but without business owners, there would be no jobs. “The Minister of Agriculture ought to be congratulated for the Primary Growth Partnership.  He has won this during a very difficult economic period and it will boost Research and Development (R&D) by $321 million over four years,” Mr Nicolson says.

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Welcome rainfall triggers sudden increase in spore counts says AsureQuality on 16th February. The much needed rainfall experienced in most parts of the country is triggering a sudden increase in spore counts and with that comes a warning according to AsureQuality’s facial eczema monitoring programme manager reports Scoop. Wayne Baxter says the situation may become very dangerous in many regions by next week and full precautions by farmers on at risk farms need to be in place. Some places have experienced heavy rain and this may have washed spores off the pasture, however due to the moist conditions, if temperatures and humidity remain high there will be further multiplication of spores,” he said.

Areas recording high counts last week were Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty, Matamata and Waipa in the Waikato, and in the Lower North Island, Horowhenua, Tararua and Wairarapa.. Wairoa has given consecutive high counts since readings began this season. The moderate readings are also ones to watch, they are Rodney, Te Puke, Hauraki Plains, Piako, Raglan, Otorohanga, New Plymouth and Gisborne.

Farmers now have an online resource to help the track facial eczema with weekly spore count reports posted on line with www.asurequality.co.nz , http://www.meatandwoolnz.co.nz/main.cfm?id=64 and www.rd1.com/sporecounts. (more…)

Pay attention to what you can control while keeping one eye on what you can’t, say economists and farm advisers in light of the ongoing global financial troubles reports the Rural News. While tight cost control is essential there will be opportunities for prudent investment and it is not all doom a gloom. ‘More than ever, good farmers need to be multi-skilled, informed, good communicators, good business managers, and, as always, hard working and technically competent,’ says Andy Macfarlane of Ashburton-based Macfarlane Rural Business. There is an increased need for sensible risk management, cost and cashflow control, as well as communication with financiers. ‘Banks are less likely to have uncommitted funds just lying around waiting for your last minute overdraft extension!’

Meat & Wool NZ senior economist Con Williams says keeping a lid on unnecessary expenditure is key, though sheep and beef farmers should have that discipline well practised following several seasons of tight returns, he notes. ‘Expenditure really needs to be targeted on things that will produce cash within the next year when margins are tight.’ That does not rule out capital spending, but investments need to start generating cashflow quickly. ‘If you can lock in finance at a low interest rate it could be a good time for capital expenditure.’

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M&WNZ says despite falling commodity prices worldwide, lamb is bucking the trend of falling prices for NZ agriculture exports. MIA chairman Bill Falconer says reported sales returns from its member companies from lamb are well up on those 12 months ago.”This is illustrated by data which shows earnings for lamb cuts to the EU are up 30% on the same time last year, and racks and forequarters into Asia and the US are up 28%. “This is significant and even with uncertain times given the global financial crisis, we remain cautiously positive going forward,” Falconer said.

M&WNZ chairman, Mike Petersen says farmgate prices for lamb, currently up 25-40% year on year, was a positive trend for the industry. “We may see softer consumer demand given the economic downturn, but that is likely to be offset by the tightened supply of lamb globally,” Peterson said.

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Wool exporters, wool brokers and private buyers are asking farmers to join them in a collective approach to revitalising the wool industry. An 8-page tabloid newsletter under the banner of the United Wool Marketers Group highlights the need to recreate consumer demand for wool and shows some of the existing industry initiatives reports Scoop.

The newsletter also emphasises that Meat & Wool NZ and the Wool Industry Network had no mandate to create new companies or to oversee the transfer of wool industry assets and woolgrower money to a private company. Also covered in some detail are the underlying reasons why the existing industry does not believe that Wool Partners International, the new company headed by Theresa Gattung, can succeed.

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Meat & Wool New Zealand has drawn up a quick checklist summarising the most important farm management and animal welfare advice and highlighting social stress factors to watch for. Download a PDF version of the document (65 kb) from M&WNZ or freephone 0800 696 328 to get a hard copy sent to you.

These include business management decisions where early action in recording and planning are important. Farm management decisions using feed budgeting, destocking, good market information(www.agridata.co.nz) and feeding priorities are highlighted as best practices under difficult circumstances. Animal welfare responsibilities and human factors such as coping with stress are also covered in ths check list.

NZ beef is a premium product that is highly sought after in overseas markets, McDonald’s Australia and NZ purchasing manager Arron Hoyle says. Mr Hoyle said NZ grass-fed beef had a strong flavour compared with grain-fed beef and was an excellent source of lean protein. “From a global perspective NZ punches above its weight,” he told more than 100 farmers at a M&WNZ Sheep and Beef Council field-day at Millers Flat last week.

Mr Hoyle buys NZ beef for hamburger chain McDonald’s, which operates in 118 countries and serves more than 56 billion people per day. Mr Hoyle said NZ beef was sold in 70% of McDonald’s 33,000 restaurants in 20 countries worldwide. “It is one of the most important countries in our global supply chain.” Mr Hoyle said the the outlook for beef was “pretty darn positive” because of strong demand reports Stuff.

However, the challenge for NZ farmers, who he described as the most innovative in the world, was to supply beef year round. “It is extremely difficult to source product in the winter.”Mr Hoyle also believed a good traceability system was essential for the NZ beef industry. “Our consumers are saying they want transparency, traceability and trust.

Dairy expansion and drought have carved into lamb numbers born this spring, prompting predictions of a $450 million drop in export earnings for the meat industry. M&WNZ in a media release has said 4.7 mil fewer lambs were born this year, and with farmers intending to keep more ewe lambs to rebuild breeding flocks, this may mean 6.1 mill fewer lambs will be killed for export.

The latest figures come as Silver Fern Farms, reports confidence returning to overseas markets after three weeks of uncertainty, adding to good news in Ballance Agri-Nutrients’ announcement of a 17% drop in the urea fertiliser price to $910 a tonne. Further cuts are expected.

M&W economist Rob Davison said export lamb numbers would drop by 23%. However, heavier lamb carcass weights this year were expected to help offset the export fall, and rise by 7.5% on last year to 17.7 kg. The ewe lambing percentage fell from 118 to 113%, reflecting drought in many regions.