2012-05-25 10:30:02 // Esther Goh
The biggest changes for farmers in the budget come in the form of new rules, hinted at earlier this year, which will mean farmers can no longer switch from one livestock valuation scheme to another.
2012-05-23 10:13:44 // Josh Martin
A design straight off the Marlborough vineyards has scooped two European viticulture awards and looks set to make an impact on some of the world's oldest wine markets.
2012-05-17 15:27:48 // Dita de Boni
// The Idealog Blog
As a country trying to find common ground between globalisation and Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) parochialism, the issues around land ownership—particularly farming—are getting a tad muddy. Dita De Boni investigates.
2012-05-15 15:10:31 // Josh Martin
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Grasslanz Technology was thrilled to scoop the award for most innovative product in agritech at the Hi-Tech awards on Friday night – all by making birds feel queasy.
2012-05-03 11:22:37
Legislation is underway to reform the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA) that would open the doors for Fonterra to enable trading among farmers – a proposal that's divided stakeholders and raised the ugly head of the issue that is foreign ownership.
2012-05-03 09:58:04 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
More than 20 chief executives from New Zealand primary sector organisations are heading to a bootcamp at Stanford University campus in Silicon Valley this August.
2012-05-03 09:43:55 // Idealog
More than 20 chief executives from New Zealand primary sector organisations are heading to a bootcamp at Stanford University campus in Silicon Valley this August.
2012-04-20 09:38:10 // Idealog
Last October, Silver Fern Farms launched a range of branded retail prepacks into Tesco stores in the UK, and now it's on track to expand its British product offerings.
2012-04-19 13:45:34 // Ian Proudfoot
// The Idealog Blog
A decade after being given the virtual ‘last rites’ as an industry, our primary producers are still delivering results. Among other things, says Ian Proudfoot, it’s time we realised our protein advantage and our acumen as a solution and knowledge driven sector.
2012-04-12 16:19:17 // Idealog
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Fonterra’s second farm in China – Yutian Farm One – is officially open, and there are two more large-scale Chinese farms in the works.
2012-04-03 16:35:48 // Josh Martin
// The Idealog Blog
Dr David Tanner, of kiwifruit giant Zespri, has some lessons in crisis handling for the rest of us.
2012-03-30 13:39:07 // Idealog
Fonterra is shaking up its strategy with a new plan to grow volumes and value by focusing more on emerging markets and products that meet growing consumer demand for dairy nutrition.
2012-03-30 13:35:21 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
China has become the leading importer of New Zealand seafood, according to the latest fisheries and aquaculture production and trade figures.
2012-03-27 13:51:12
// The Idealog Blog
New Zealand is truly blessed with talent when it comes to our agribusiness. Here are our picks for our top 40 farming stars.
2012-03-22 17:08:19 // Owen Poland
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Imagine a leg of prime Kiwi lamb implanted with an edible Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag that has tracked its journey from pasture to plate. Imagine, too, if the consumer’s ‘plate’ could read the tag and thereby ‘pump out’ all sorts of information like calories or fat, details about the lamb’s ‘trading’ history and even food miles.
2012-03-20 17:16:21 // Rachel MacDonald
// The Idealog Blog
Many Kiwi primary producers have viewed China as the great land of opportunity as that country has progressively opened itself up to trade with the West. However, rising on the horizon is another economic star: India.
2012-03-20 17:15:37 // Lester Brown
// The Idealog Blog
From the Middle East to Madagascar—and even closer to home—high prices are spawning land grabs and even toppling regimes. Welcome to the 21st-century food wars.
2012-03-20 17:11:17 // Dwight Whitney
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Dwight Whitney talks with New Zealand King Salmon's Grant Rosewarne about how an Icelandic volcano that grounded planes around the world allowed a local fish farm to soar.
2012-03-20 17:04:19 // Ben Fahy
// The Idealog Blog
They’re good on pavlovas, or straight from the punnet. But research shows berries are also very good for the body. And, as Ben Fahy discovers, some savvy New Zealand growers are zeroing in on the increasingly lucrative ‘functional foods’ market.
2012-03-12 09:39:22 // Idealog
Fonterra has revised its payout forecast down by 15 cents for the 2011/12 season to $6.75-$6.85 for a fully shared up farmer.
2012-03-07 10:26:46 // Idealog
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is no more – come April 30, it will be known as the Ministry for Primary Industries encompassing all government work across the agricultural, horticultural, fisheries and aquaculture, forestry and food sectors, as well as biosecurity.
2012-02-10 09:58:12 // Siobhan Leathley
// The Idealog Blog
New Zealand’s dairy farmers could shave the equivalent of the annual electricity usage of 7100 households off their power bill, a study has found.
2011-11-07 15:53:45 // Esther Goh
Matua Valley Wines founder Maureen Maxwell is on a mission to foster stronger links between New Zealand's bee and honey industry and the rest of the world.
2011-10-06 10:52:45 // Peter Kerr
It's clear that our primary industries need to be less commodity, more market, writes Peter Kerr. The question remains how.
2011-09-22 11:04:14 // Esther Goh
Fonterra is flying high on the back of a bumper year for dairy exports and contributions from overseas businesses, boosting the cooperative to a 13 percent profit that it says will see more than $10 billion flow into the New Zealand economy.
2011-09-21 11:35:42 // Idealog
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Farm gate prices have boosted sheepmeat producers to levels not seen for nearly a decade and a recently-released industry report suggests farmers can expect to continue to enjoy high prices and favourable offshore market conditions in the year ahead.
2011-09-12 09:31:49 // Idealog
| 2 comments
The world’s top international agricultural biotechnology conference is heading to New Zealand in 2012, putting the spotlight on environmental, social, and economic change under the umbrella theme ‘Adapting to a Changing World’.
2011-09-08 17:44:25 // Willy Leferink
// The Idealog Blog
New Zealanders have a tendency to catastrophise, writes Willy Leferink, but farmers aren’t dumb – it's not in their interests to abuse what their resources.
2011-09-02 09:26:46 // Victoria Young
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Liquid Strip, the brainchild of Greg Morgan, removes solids from wastewater and converts them into a pellet or slug form that can then be used as fuel for fires.
2011-08-22 15:23:03 // Lynne Peeples
// The Idealog Blog
That the widespread use of antibiotics in livestock feed (especially in the US) is creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria isn’t a particularly new argument. But while those involved in the animal production business may surprisingly beg to differ, doctors are now getting in on the act and voicing their concerns as this story by Lynee Peeples of the Huffington Post explains.
2011-08-02 09:28:36 // Idealog
After reviewing New Zealand's milk markets, the Commerce Commission has concluded there is no basis for an inquiry into the price of milk.
2011-08-01 12:06:13 // Andy Kenworthy
// Idealog #34: features
A combination of Kiwi practices, verdant land and cash from clued-up investors like Sam Morgan yields Leitíssimo three times the production it would generate in New Zealand. Is this the end of our dairy industry - or the next step for IP?
2011-07-29 09:52:05 // Esther Goh
Farmers are welcoming news that the European Union has agreed to accept an annual quota of New Zealand grain-fed beef, which will quadruple our beef exports to the continent.
2011-07-21 15:32:28 // Sustain Team
// The Idealog Blog
Bad news for a country with more sheep than humans: out of all the meats, lamb has the worst environmental impact of all.
2011-07-19 15:49:42 // Idealog
With Chinese demand for milk forecast to triple in the next decade, Fonterra is expanding its footprint in China with a third dairy farm worth $47 million.
2011-07-11 09:18:42 // Jacqueline Rowarth
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
Farmers occupy a strange position, writes Jacqueline Rowarth: recognised for their key role in the economy, yet blamed for rising food prices and environmental impacts.
2011-07-07 10:05:49 // Vincent Heeringa
// The Idealog Blog
| 9 comments
As milk powder prices peak, the TradeMe founder finds a new trick: dairying in Brazil. Que?
2011-06-23 12:00:00 // Infonews
// The Idealog Blog
Got a strategic business plan with objectives and metrics in place? It's a need, not a nice-to-have, and Fieldays was as good a place as any to spread the message.
2011-06-23 09:24:45 // Infonews
// The Idealog Blog
Waikato Regional Council manager of environmental farming systems Alan Campbell says everyone has a role to play in not only managing our environment, but our global markets.
2011-06-16 16:21:28 // Sarah Robson
// The Idealog Blog
After a 5.30am start, so far Sarah Robson's seen dogs riding boogie boards, solar electric fences and enough checked shirts for a lifetime. She also caught up on the latest innovations in our lucrative wool industry
2010-09-30 13:27:59 // Amanda Cropp
// Idealog #29: features
Waipara Valley winemakers are reclaiming some of the diverse native vegetation once lost to the thousands of hectares of grapes. By Amanda Cropp. Plus: battling the bugs at Mud House.
2010-06-21 15:22:59 // Jason Smith
// Idealog #27: workshop
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All our eggs (and milk, meat and timber) are in one basket. Let’s mix it up a little.
2010-02-23 22:44:00 // Vincent Heeringa
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
A new report by IBM and the Univerity of Auckland into the state of Kiwi innovation reveals two surprising facts, and one dismally old one
