Latest news with #ToddMcClay
France 24
4 days ago
- Business
- France 24
New Zealand farmers battle pine forests to 'save our sheep'
Concern over the scale of the farm-to-forest switch led the government to impose a moratorium in December on any new conversions not already in the pipeline. But farmers say forestry companies are flouting the clampdown. Last month, farmers launched a "Save our Sheep" campaign to reverse the loss of productive farmland. Sheep numbers have plummeted to around 23 million, down from a peak of around 70 million in the 1980s, according to official figures. Falling wool prices and rising milk and beef costs initially drove the decline, but the emissions trading since 2008 has added to the strain. The government is now investigating potential breaches of its moratorium by forestry companies, which have been buying up farmland as recently as June. Federated Farmers -- a lobby group for rural communities -- submitted to the government "a list of properties we believe have been sold for carbon forestry" since the halt, a spokesman said. The federation is concerned about the sale of more than 15,200 hectares (37,600 acres) of farmland, he told AFP. Dean Rabbidge, who runs a farm outside the Southland town of Wyndham, said some of the newly purchased farms had already been planted with pine trees. 'Criminal' "They're just ploughing on ahead, effectively giving the middle finger to the government announcement," Rabbidge told AFP. The moratorium had created a "gold rush", he said. "It's criminal what's happening." Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay said the government would change the law by October because it had become more profitable to plant pine forests than to farm sheep. "The law will include clarity on what qualifies as legitimate evidence of a pre-December investment and enable any specific cases to be properly assessed," McClay said. "Anyone who has bought land since December 4, 2024, irrespective of whether they also had trees or not, will not be able to register this land into the emissions trading scheme." Rural New Zealand once abounded with rolling pastures, rickety wire fences hemming in millions of sheep chewing on the green grass. But Rabbidge said those days were gone. "You won't see anything now," he said. "You're just driving through long pine tree tunnels -- shaded, wet, and damp." New Zealand is one of the rare countries to allow 100 percent of carbon emissions to be offset by forestry. "We're not anti planting trees," sheep farmer Ben Fraser told AFP. "There are areas of land that should be retired, that aren't necessarily productive." But the trading scheme had driven an excessive loss of sheep pastures to forestry, he said. "That's the issue here." 'So short-sighted' Fraser, who farms near the North Island town of Ohakune, said he had seen an exodus of people from the district in recent years. "Since 2018, there've been 17 farms converted to forestry," he said. "That's about 18,000 hectares gone. So you're looking at about 180,000 sheep gone out of the district, plus lambs." The loss of sheep impacted the region. "If the farms thrive, then the towns thrive because people come in and spend their money," he said. "You've got farm suppliers, your fertiliser guys, your supermarkets, your butchers, all of that stuff struggling. "The local schools now have less kids in them. The people who stayed are now isolated, surrounded by pine trees." Rabbidge said the same was happening in Southland. "This whole thing is just so short-sighted," Rabbidge said. "Businesses here are forecasting anywhere between a 10 and 15 percent revenue reduction for the next financial year, and that's all on the back of properties that have sold or have been planted out in pine trees," he said. 'Lamb on a plate' "Think of all the shearers, the contractors, the transporters, the farm supply stores, the workers, the community centres, the schools, rugby clubs. Everything is affected by this." Government figures from 2023 show agriculture accounted for more than half of New Zealand's total greenhouse gas emissions. But farmers argue they have been working hard to reduce emissions, down more than 30 percent since the 1990s. "I could put a leg of lamb on a plate in London with a lower emissions profile, transport included, than a British farmer," Rabbidge said. "We just use our natural resources. We're not housing animals indoors and carting feed in and manure out. © 2025 AFP
Times of Oman
5 days ago
- Business
- Times of Oman
Second round of India-New Zealand FTA negotiation concludes in Delhi
New Delhi: The second round of negotiations for the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) concluded successfully on Friday in New Delhi, further advancing the shared objective of strengthening bilateral trade and economic partnerships, according to a release from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This development catalyses the shared commitment to deepen economic ties and guidance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit of his New Zealand counterpart, Christopher Luxon, in March this year. The FTA was launched during the meeting between Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal and Todd McClay, Minister for Trade and Investment, Government of New Zealand, on March 16 of this year, the release added. Continuing the momentum generated during the first round held in May in New Delhi, the second round of negotiations was held from July 14 to 25. This round accomplished significant advancement in multiple areas, including trade in Goods and Services, Investment, Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation, Technical Barriers to Trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and Economic Cooperation. Discussions were marked by mutual interest in achieving early convergence on several texts. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to concluding a balanced, comprehensive, and forward-looking agreement, as per the Ministry. According to the release, the Third Round of negotiations is scheduled to be held in New Zealand in September 2025. The intersessional virtual meetings will maintain the forward trajectory set in the second round. The release noted that India's bilateral merchandise trade with New Zealand reached USD 1.3 billion in FY 2024-25, recording a growth of 48.6 per cent over the previous financial year, signaling the growing potential of the economic partnership. The FTA is expected to enhance trade flows, support investment linkages, promote supply chain resilience, and establish a predictable and enabling environment for businesses in both countries, it added.
Otago Daily Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
'I'm so very sorry this cost has been put upon you'
By Monique Steele of RNZ The agriculture minister has apologised to New Zealand's top beef exporters for extra costs they will likely face due to new anti-deforestation rules for European Union imports. Those sending agricultural products - like beef, leather or logs in New Zealand's case - will have to prove that their products have not come from land that was recently deforested. Despite fierce opposition from New Zealand industry groups and government officials, the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) appeared to be going ahead. From the end of the year, all exporters to the EU will be required to prove land used for forests has not been cut down for animals to graze on since 2020. The regulation was amended to exclude sheep products in 2022 and its implementation was delayed last year. But the beef, meat and wood processing sectors were preparing for the new incoming requirements. It was announced this week that the Meat Industry Association, Beef and Lamb New Zealand and an analytics firm were developing aerial and satellite-generated farm maps, in addition to compiling the movement of livestock. The New Zealand Deforestation Map initiative was to help the sector prepare the documents and data needed with each shipment of their products going to the EU from 31 December. The regulation was expected to affect $213 million in beef and leather exports to the EU and $100m of New Zealand wood products. Minister 'banging on the table' for exemption Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Trade and Investment Todd McClay told the red meat sector conference in Ōtautahi/Christchurch on Tuesday that companies should get prepared for the incoming new rules. "Well done for preparing. I'm so very sorry this cost has been put upon you, because in my view it is unnecessary," he said. "Since we came to government, I have consistently said to the European Union we have standards, the equivalent to yours if not higher, so you should not be putting costs upon every single producer in New Zealand, and we have been looking for ways to find exemptions or to changes, or to get the cost down." McClay wrote to the European Commission last year, and said he met the European Commissioner in Brussels last month who suggested other countries were also trying for exemptions, like France. "You'd figure when the EU member states don't like something, perhaps there's a change coming," he said. But he said New Zealand already had native forest protection rules that resulted in penalties or prosecutions for offending. "They have nothing to worry about in New Zealand. You're not allowed to deforest native forests in New Zealand. "Ultimately I as the government can give an absolute assurance that it doesn't happen because we prosecute, we go and find these things." He said it will likely impose "unreasonable" costs on producers, making it a barrier to trade, even while there was a free trade agreement with the EU now in force. "So you need to keep preparing in case they don't get there, but we're gonna keep banging the table." Mapping farms and tracking livestock Industry analytics firm Prism Earth was a partnership between Silver Fern Farms and Lynker Analytics launched to meet the increased demand for carbon traceability, its website said. Prism Earth was now using satellite imagery, aerial photography, LiDAR and artificial intelligence to map farms and identify grazing areas, forests and track animals via the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) programme. Also speaking at the red meat industry event, managing director Matt Lythe said the challenge was to accurately understand the conversion of land and animal movements. "Every consignment will need to have a due diligence statement that essentially monitors every NAIT tag, every animal and its passage through the New Zealand landscape and the grazing process through all its dimensions, and whether it's past deforested land or not," he said. "There are some record-keeping requirements that need to be held in place for five years, so it's a reasonably onerous obligation on us all to achieve." Lythe said its modelling showed there were just under 14,000 hectares of beef production farmland to October 2024 where forests had been removed, and 1600 "affected NAIT" farms. "So headline number, just under 14,000 hectares have had forest removal," he told the conference. The main types of removal were pine rotation, followed by woodlots then shelterbelts. The modelling showed 32 hectares of indigenous forest were removed, affecting 24 farms. "I've highlighted the indigenous loss as really the key critical area that we're focusing on," he said. "Thirty-two hectares of indigenous forest in New Zealand has been removed that breaches that European rule." Owners of farms deemed to have been deforested would need to demonstrate to Prism that the removal of trees was not to convert land for agricultural use. Lythe said farmers could mitigate the risk of cattle crossing into deforested land through fencing or other controls, and demonstrate that the removal of trees was due to either animal welfare, erosion control, health and safety or conservation and biodiversity protection. The New Zealand Deforestation Map would be updated before December, and updated every year. The Meat Industry Association was then expected to engage with the wider sector.
NZ Herald
7 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
EU deforestation rules: NZ beef and wood exporters may face extra costs
The regulation was amended to exclude sheep products in 2022, and its implementation was delayed last year. But the beef, meat and wood processing sectors were preparing for the new requirements. It was announced this week that the Meat Industry Association, Beef + Lamb and an analytics firm were developing aerial and satellite-generated farm maps, as well as compiling the movement of livestock. The New Zealand Deforestation Map initiative was to help the sector prepare the documents and data needed with each shipment of their products to the EU from December 31. The regulation was expected to affect $213 million in beef and leather exports to the EU and $100 million in wood products. Minister 'banging on the table' for exemption Agriculture Minister Todd McClay speaking at the Red Meat Sector Conference in Christchurch on Tuesday. Photo / RNZ, Monique Steele McClay, the Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Trade and Investment, told the Red Meat Sector Conference in Christchurch on Tuesday that companies should prepare for the incoming rules. 'Well done for preparing,' he said. 'I'm so very sorry this cost has been put upon you, because in my view it is unnecessary. 'Since we came to government, I have consistently said to the European Union we have standards, the equivalent to yours if not higher, so you should not be putting costs upon every single producer in New Zealand, and we have been looking for ways to find exemptions or to changes, or to get the cost down.' McClay wrote to the European Commission last year and said he met one of the commissioners in Brussels last month, who suggested other countries were also trying to gain exemptions, such as France. 'You'd figure when the EU member states don't like something, perhaps there's a change coming,' McClay said. New Zealand already had rules protecting native forests, and penalties for offending. 'They [the EU] have nothing to worry about in New Zealand. 'You're not allowed to deforest native forests in New Zealand. 'Ultimately, I, as the Government, can give an absolute assurance that it doesn't happen because we prosecute, we go and find these things.' He said the new regime was likely to impose 'unreasonable' costs on producers, creating a barrier to trade, despite New Zealand's free-trade agreement with the EU. 'So you need to keep preparing in case they don't get there, but we're gonna keep banging the table.' Mapping farms and tracking livestock Industry analytics firm Prism Earth is a partnership between Silver Fern Farms and Lynker Analytics, launched to meet the increased demand for carbon traceability, its website says. It uses satellite imagery, aerial photography, remote laser sensing and artificial intelligence to map farms and identify grazing areas and forests. It also tracks animals via the National Animal Identification and Tracing (Nait) programme. Managing director Matt Lythe, who also spoke at the red meat industry event, said the challenge was to accurately understand the conversion of land and animal movements. 'Every consignment will need to have a due diligence statement that essentially monitors every Nait tag, every animal and its passage through the New Zealand landscape and the grazing process through all its dimensions, and whether it's past deforested land or not. 'There are some record-keeping requirements that need to be held in place for five years, so it's a reasonably onerous obligation on us all to achieve.' Its modelling showed there were just under 14,000 hectares of beef production farmland to October 2024 from which forests had been removed, and 1600 'affected Nait' farms. 'So headline number, just under 14,000 hectares have had forest removal,' he told the conference. The main types of removal were pine rotation, followed by woodlots, then shelterbelts. The modelling showed 32 hectares of indigenous forest were removed, affecting 24 farms. 'I've highlighted the indigenous loss as really the key critical area that we're focusing on. 'Thirty-two hectares of indigenous forest in New Zealand has been removed that breaches that European rule.' Owners of farms deemed to have been deforested would need to demonstrate to Prism that the removal of trees was not to convert land for agricultural use. Lythe said farmers could mitigate the risk of cattle crossing into deforested land through fencing or other controls, and demonstrate that the removal of trees was due to either animal welfare, erosion control, health and safety or conservation and biodiversity protection. The New Zealand Deforestation Map will be updated before December and updated every year. The Meat Industry Association is then expected to engage with the wider sector. - RNZ
Scoop
23-07-2025
- 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.
