Latest news with #StatsNZ
Scoop
17 hours ago
- Business
- Scoop
Dropping Livestock Numbers Dominate Red Meat Sector Event
New Zealand red meat exports earned an extra $1.2 billion this year, due to good livestock pricing and tighter supplies. But the country's $10 billion red meat sector has raised the alarm that it was struggling to get the numbers of livestock through the meat works it needed to feed hungry international consumers. More than 300 red meat producers, processors and marketers gathered in Ōtautahi for the Red Meat Sector Conference on Tuesday. While import tariffs into key market the United States and subdued consumer demand in China were top of the agenda, the surity of livestock supply underpinned the sector's concerns for a resilient future. The latest figures from StatsNZ showed the national sheep flock and deer herd were continuing to decline. Industry group Beef and Lamb New Zealand's chairperson Kate Acland told the event, carbon farming on productive land under the Emissions Trading Scheme was driving the significant reduction in livestock numbers. "New Zealand currently faces over-capacity in the processing industry," she said. "We have more plants and more processing lines than we have livestock to sustain them efficiently and it risks getting worse. "The drop in stock numbers represents a lost opportunity. We owe it to farmers to face this challenge head on." She said greater collaboration among competing companies was a sensible strategic approach. "If we want a future-fit industry, we need to be bold about optimising capacity and about how we collaborate," she said. "The fall in stock numbers is particularly frustrating because at a time when there's strong demand globally and high export prices, our processors have not been able to capitalise on this. "Our exports would have been hundreds of millions higher if the supply had been there." The conference came during a time when the country's only farmer-owned red meat co-operative Alliance Group was preparing a case of private investment for its farmer-shareholders to vote on in the coming months. Alliance announced the decision to shut its historic Smithfield meat plant in Timaru in October, amid dropping livestock numbers, particularly breeding ewes, with 600 people losing their jobs. Farmers were getting record prices for beef, however they were driven in part by good demand amid tighter supplies. Furthermore, New Zealand imported a near-record volume of beef from Australia in June, as processors worked to secure greater volumes to match meat plant capacity. Meanwhile, Todd McClay, Minister for Agriculture and Trade and Investment, said the Government was working to "get Wellington out of farming" to enable primary sector growth, and bring value back to the farmgate. "We want to reduce regulation and cost on farm," he said. "I reckon it's a great time to be a farmer in New Zealand at the moment. "As there are challenges fronting up around the world, geopolitics, tariffs, protectionism, and so on, the world still needs high quality, safe food. "And you don't get higher quality of safer food anywhere in the world with a wonderful carbon footprint story to tell." He said the government invested in the $8 million Taste Pure Natire campaign with industry to strengthen red meat's position in China, to drive better returns for farmers and processors. StatsNZ figures showing sheep numbers dropped three percent in 2024 to 23.6 million sheep, while deer numbers dropped 4 percent between 2023 and 2024 to 709,000. However, the beef boom has kept stock numbers relatively stable rising one percent in the last year to 3.7 million beef cattle.
NZ Herald
a day ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Red Meat Sector Conference: Exports up $1.2b despite livestock supply concerns
The latest figures from Stats NZ showed the national sheep flock and deer herd were continuing to decline. Industry group Beef + Lamb New Zealand chairwoman Kate Acland told the event that carbon farming on productive land under the Emissions Trading Scheme was driving the significant reduction in livestock numbers. 'New Zealand currently faces over-capacity in the processing industry,' Acland said. 'We have more plants and more processing lines than we have livestock to sustain them efficiently, and it risks getting worse. 'The drop in stock numbers represents a lost opportunity. We owe it to farmers to face this challenge head-on.' Acland said greater collaboration among competing companies was a sensible strategic approach. 'If we want a future-fit industry, we need to be bold about optimising capacity and about how we collaborate,' she said. 'The fall in stock numbers is particularly frustrating because at a time when there's strong demand globally and high export prices, our processors have not been able to capitalise on this. 'Our exports would have been hundreds of millions [of dollars] higher if the supply had been there.' The conference came during a time when the country's only farmer-owned red meat co-operative, Alliance Group, was preparing a case on private investment for its farmer-shareholders to vote on in the coming months. Alliance announced the decision to shut its historic Smithfield meat plant in Timaru in October, amid dropping livestock numbers, particularly breeding ewes, with 600 people losing their jobs. Farmers were getting record prices for beef; however, they were driven in part by good demand amid tighter supplies. Agriculture Minister Todd McClay speaking at the Red Meat Sector Conference in Christchurch on Tuesday. Photo / RNZ Furthermore, New Zealand imported a near-record volume of beef from Australia in June, as processors worked to secure greater volumes to match meat-plant capacity. Meanwhile, Minister for Agriculture and Trade and Investment Todd McClay said the Government was working to 'get Wellington out of farming' to enable primary sector growth and bring value back to the farm gate. 'We want to reduce regulation and cost on-farm,' McClay said. 'I reckon it's a great time to be a farmer in New Zealand at the moment. 'As there are challenges fronting up around the world, geopolitics, tariffs, protectionism, and so on, the world still needs high-quality, safe food. 'And you don't get higher quality of safer food anywhere in the world [than here], with a wonderful carbon footprint story to tell.' McClay said the Government invested in the $8 million Taste Pure Nature campaign with industry to strengthen red meat's position in China, to drive better returns for farmers and processors. Stats NZ figures show sheep numbers dropped 3% in 2024 to 23.6 million sheep, while deer numbers dropped 4% between 2023 and 2024 to 709,000. However, the beef boom has kept stock numbers relatively stable, rising 1% in the last year to 3.7 million beef cattle. – RNZ
NZ Herald
a day ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Ozzy Osbourne the "Prince of Darkness" dies at 76
On the rise: New Consumers Price data for June shows annual inflation is up The consumer price index (CPI) increased 2.7% in the 12 months to the June 2025 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Nicola Willis To Ask Fonterra About High Price Of Butter
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will be asking Fonterra about the high retail price of butter in New Zealand. Willis told First Up it didn't seem quite right that butter seemed to be cheaper in Australian supermarkets. The price of a block of butter is now 120 percent higher than it was a decade ago, Stats NZ says. In the year to June it was up 46.5 percent to $8.60 for a 500g block. At her regular meeting with the dairy co-operative on Tuesday evening she would be discussing what gets added to the cost by retail brands, including Fonterra's Anchor, and at the wholesale level. "My frustration has been when you sometimes go on to an Australian supermarket website and see that butter appears to be cheaper there than in New Zealand, that doesn't seem quite right. So that's exactly the conversation I want to have." "They'll have the opportunity to set out their case." It was well understood the main driver of prices for dairy products was international demand and pricing, Willis said. "But competition at the retail level does seem to have an effect on price, because organisations like Costco choose to have a really low price point on that product to get people in the door and the ultimate winner of all of that is the Kiwi shopper. "So I'm talking to Fonterra about what they're seeing in terms of the supermarket pricing behaviour, what the margins are." In May, Costco Auckland's special pricing saw queues out the door. Federated Farmers dairy chair Karl Dean has urged retailers to lower prices quickly when costs go down, and said there was probably very little Fonterra itself could do. "To put in it in perspective, there hasn't been any new players onto the domestic market in the last 10 years in terms of butter, other than the likes of Westgold - Westland have got their very premium product," he told Morning Report last week.
Newsroom
2 days ago
- Business
- Newsroom
‘A bit rich' for Govt to castigate councils for above-inflation revenue increases
Analysis: Local authorities are rightly being held to account for rates rises that are above inflation – indeed, far above inflation. From the Prime Minister's opening video address onwards, a succession of Government ministers berated the mayors and councillors at last week's Local Government NZ conference in Christchurch. And this week, Stats NZ published the latest consumers price index figures, showing that while headline inflation had gone up just 2.7 percent in the 12 months to June 30, local authority rates and payments had gone up 12.2 percent.
