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Meat and Fibre

Penny Schulz

Livestock Data Link (LDL) is a new initiative from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) that aims to enhance the exchange and utilisation of carcase performance information by businesses within the red meat industry. LDL is a web-based application that links slaughter data from the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database with analytical tools, benchmarking reports, … Read more

Mark Patterson

In February of 2013 I received an out of the blue phone call from a fellow sheep and beef farmer whom I had never met. His name was Richard Young and he was organising a meeting of like minded farmers to discuss the issues around the dire state of the red meat sector. The attendance … Read more

Solis Norton

Farming practices in New Zealand will need to change in order to comply with nutrient management regulation. This regulation is broadly described in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (2014). It is then addressed more specifically at the community level through Regional Council and stakeholder engagement. There are almost two thousand farms throughout the … Read more

Sam Lang

Hill country farming on the East Coast of the North Island is becoming increasingly exposed to global and national economic, social, environmental and regulatory trends and pressure is building towards significant change from the status quo. So what will hill country farming on the East Coast of the North Island look like in 2050 and … Read more

Ange McFetridge

With debate surrounding the structure and strategy of the New Zealand red meat industry, the time is right to explore constructs around the market orientation and performance of New Zealand sheep and beef farmers. Market orientation was determined by studying customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-functional coordination. These factors were considered alongside cooperative membership, level … Read more

Landon Jones

This report was undertaken to provide a greater understanding of the positive role lamb producer groups have in the New Zealand sheep meat industry, due to the repeated negative comments about the industry and its performance publically and in the media. The majority of research used in the report was completed by qualitative interviews with … Read more

Natalie Pickering

The New Zealand government wishes to double exports by 2025. To do this they wish to increase exports from agricultural sectors to $64 billion. To help, the government has invested in Primary Growth Partnership Programmes to advance science and farm system changes. This includes improving farm management systems. The genetic and genomic potential in the … Read more

Chanelle O’Sullivan

Two years ago, I had an idea of adding a ‘one-stop-shop’ website into the brand that is, Farming Mums NZ. The aim of this study is to determine whether further, specific support and resources are wanted or needed by the Farming Mums NZ community and to initiate a game plan on how to get it … Read more

Daniel Shand

“Decision making makes the farmer but the information they use to make the decision makes the profit.” The research in this report was gathered in order to determine how mobile technology can deliver improved on-farm and industry productivity gains now and in the future and also to understand technology adoption and how mobile could deliver positive outcomes.

Lucy Griffiths Cruickshank

New Zealand pioneered the export of frozen sheep meat in 1882 and continues to be a world leader in many aspects of sheep breeding, meat and wool production and product development for both domestic and international markets. However we have never had a significant sheep milk industry and the question is why – or more importantly, why not?

Mark Stevenson

Global food systems are experiencing unprecedented changes in the way food is produced, distributed and consumed. Food systems are highly dependent on fossil fuels, emit large quantities of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and significantly contribute to environmental problems (FAO, 2006).  Agricultural farming systems particularly in New Zealand are under increasing pressure given the growing awareness of … Read more

Sandra Faulkner

Purpose of report To explore a vision for grower representation in the New Zealand wool value chain. Background Wool was once New Zealand’s most valuable export product – it was to our economy what dairying is today. Currently, however, the New Zealand wool industry is weak and fragmented to the point of being dysfunctional. This … Read more

David Campbell

In the last decade New Zealand (NZ) agricultural exports to Asia have increased 71% to NZ$6 billion, and China is now the largest of these Asian markets. This growth is set to continue as the Asian economies continue to outpace those of the US or Europe. An increasing proportion of Asia’s large population will develop … Read more

Weir Bruce

The purpose of this report was to look at opportunities for young managers within the dry stock industry and to determine in my opinion whether there is a clear career path or not. And if there is a path, what does the young manager and the industry as a whole, have to do to ensure … Read more

van Reenen, Erica

Water quality issues are at the forefront of people’s minds at present. The sheep and beef sector is coming under increasing pressure to ‘do their bit’ to improve water quality on farm. This is not necessarily a straight forward task, and there are a number of barriers preventing widespread action. The sector is also coming … Read more

Irvine, Angus

The traditional New Zealand meat industry payment system has historically benefited farmers for through-put of livestock with little incentive to improve carcass quality or meat yield. This existing kill payment structure reacts to short term market signals and encourages farmers to “chase” higher seasonal returns, and, as is the case in the venison industry these … Read more

Allan Jane

Angus Pure is a branded Beef program owned 50 percent by the New Zealand Angus Association, the remaining 50 percent is privately owned. New Zealand Angus Association has 325 active members supplying Angus genetics to commercial beef farmers as part of their branded program. The objective of this program is to create a greater demand … Read more

Williamson, Robyn

Wool is one of the oldest commodities still in existence today, and indeed man has used wool for over 10,000 years as a source of food and clothing. However with the advent of the synthetic industry with its vast investments into research development and marketing; wool has struggled to compete on price and sheep numbers … Read more

Morgan David

In this paper I intend to explore the concept of establishing Producer Groups. I see the establishment of such groups as a way of establishing a better link with processors and exporters and a way of establishing a premium for the groups produce. It is my opinion that Producer groups only really suit dedicated farmers … Read more

Young, Richard

New Zealand’s agricultural sector is critically important to New Zealand’s economic future. For Primary Sector and Economic Growth we must give assurances to our trading partners that New Zealand protein products are safe, healthy and disease free. To do so, Industry along with Government support have formulated an Animal Identification and Tracing System that will … Read more

Faulkner, Sandra

New Zealand was developed off the sheep’s back. It seems unfathomable that the strong wool industry, once our largest export earner, is today fighting for survival. Worse than that, until recently, there was a widespread view it had little chance of remaining viable, both economically and in the volume of fibre produced. During the Korean … Read more

Foley, Will

The sheep industry, while largely depressed over the last few years of the last decade, has seen resurgence in the last twelve months and remains an integral part of New Zealand’s agricultural and National economy. Farmers must take advantage of current improved prices by improving productivity, becoming more efficient and remain competitive to ensure the … Read more

Meads, Murray

Breed Societies have had a place in New Zealand agriculture since the late 1800’s. Breeding groups of all species of livestock began incorporating Breed Societies particularly in the early 1900’s and this practice has continued for the last 100 years. The information gathered in this report refers to Sheep and Beef Breeds predominantly, however does … Read more

Orange, Kris

The New Zealand Deer Industry has rather a unique history. Kiwi ingenuity at its best, pioneers seeing a pest in the wild as an opportunity to deliver wealth. That vision continues to this day with deer now being farm raised to create a premium product. It has been a concern over the past five years … Read more