Analysis

Fonterra sells China farms

Fonterra has agreed to sell its China farms for a total of $555 million (RMB 2.5 billion*1), after successfully developing the farms alongside local partners. Inner Mongolia Natural Dairy Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of China Youran Dairy Group Limited (Youran), has agreed to purchase Fonterra’s two farming-hubs in Ying and Yutian for $513 million (RMB 2.31 billion*1). Separately, Fonterra has agreed to sell its 85 per cent interest in its Hangu farm to Beijing Sanyuan Venture Capital Co., Ltd. (Sanyuan), for $42 million (RMB 190 million*1). Sanyuan has a 15 per cent minority shareholding in the farm and exercised their right of first refusal to purchase Fonterra’s interest. CEO Miles Hurrell says in building the farms, Fonterra has demonstrated its commitment to the development of the Chinese dairy industry. “We’ve worked closely with local players, sharing our expertise in farming techniques and animal husbandry, and contributed to the growth of the industry. “We don’t shy away from the fact that establishing farms from scratch in China has been challenging, but our team has successfully developed productive model farms, supplying high quality fresh milk to the local consumer market. It’s now time to pass the baton to Youran and Sanyuan to continue the development of these farms.” Mr Hurrell says the sale of the farms will allow the Co-op to prioritise the areas of its business where it has competitive advantages. “For the last 18 months, we have been reviewing every part of the business to ensure our assets and investments meet the needs of the Co-op today. Selling the farms is in line with our decision to focus on our New Zealand farmers’ milk. “China remains one of Fonterra’s most important strategic markets, receiving around a quarter of our production. Selling the farms will allow us to focus even more […]

Nigeria to increase shea industry exports amid growing global demand

Tridge, a global sourcing and market intelligence hub for food buyers and suppliers, has reported the latest market trends affecting the food and agriculture sector. This week the biggest news relates to the expansion of the Nigerian shea industry due to an increase in global demand. Nigeria, one of the top producers of shea nuts and butter, is looking to expand its business to regions that have the most potential for growth such as North America and Asia. Currently, the largest market for Shea butter is Europe with an estimated 250K metric tonnes exported to the continent yearly. Breakthroughs in exports are expected to happen after Nigeria has addressed the key challenges impacting the industry. This includes the fact that around 50% of shea nuts are utilised for exporting purposes and processing, and much of the product is left unused in the wild. Hoshik Shin, founder and CEO at Tridge said: “Shea butter is used worldwide for a variety of uses in the food industry as well as in the cosmetics sector, with a market value estimated to reach at least USD 3B in 2025. “Demand for the product has also increased as the production of shea butter is more environmentally friendly than counterparts such as palm oil. Not requiring any deforestation of the production area also makes it more appealing to customers”.

New rural employee support hub launched

DairyNZ and partners have launched a new Rural Employee Support Hub, to provide information and help to farm employees so they have the best possible experiences and careers on farm. The hub is a website ruralemployeesupport.co.nz and a free employee support phone line (0800 694 121) where people can have their questions answered, big and small. “Dairying is a sector that’s built on people – people are the key to our success, so we want everyone in dairying to have a rewarding career long-term and that’s where the Rural Employee Support Hub plays a key part,” DairyNZ people team leader Jane Muir said. The website is packed with information and tips to support and help employees excel in their jobs on farms. Information includes careers, training and development, remuneration and tenancies. There are sections on personal health including keeping active, nutrition and mental health support. On a practical level, there’s help on animals, farm health and safety. There’s even access to legal support if needed. The hub is a DairyNZ and Ministry for Primary Industries initiative, being delivered by Federated Farmers and supported by Dairy Women’s Network and New Zealand Young Farmers. “As a sector, we are really focused on ensuring employees enjoy and are fulfilled in their jobs, and that farm bosses have great talent working for them. It’s a two-way relationship,” said Jane. “Employers are well supported through DairyNZ and Federated Farmers, and we want to ensure employees have the same level of support and know where to go to ask questions.” Farm employees can call the hub’s free 0800 support line for information. The line provides confidential, impartial advice and is available Monday to Friday 8.30am-5pm. People can also email via the website. The initiative is a six-month pilot […]

The Interview:James Crow, Little Island

We want to command a dominant export position, as NZ animal protein business have done in the past. How do you see current business opportunities for your company? This is new territory for us all but what the past two months have reaffirmed is that the need for locally manufactured food with environmental credentials is only growing. Consumers have become more aware of what they are consuming over the lockdown and will be more receptive to the health and lifestyle benefits that plant based foods can offer. As our hospitality channels rebuild, we will look to develop specific products and formats for that industry as well. Our current capital raise via Snowball Effect will allow us to react more quickly to these developing trends to expand our current range, while also acquiring a plant based yoghurt business to round out our offering. Do you export and to where? We have tested the waters with exports into an independent Australian retailer chain of 100 stores and a successful two year pilot in a premium Singapore supermarket chain of 45 stores. This work has shown where the opportunities are and the work that will be required to secure these regions for Little Island in the future. After 10 years, is everything on track? For a start-up “on track” is generally code for you tackled the last obstacle and are charging ahead. The secret to our success so far has been building production capacity and knowledge in what we do, from the ground up, and this is going well. We have very good business fundamentals that now require further capital to accelerate growth. Through our current capital raise we have a solid strategy to develop our people and products to become the dominant plant based business both in New Zealand and in our […]

First Fieldays Online a virtual success

The Fieldays Online concept and digital platform was created in just under 108 days. As New Zealand went into the national lockdown the New Zealand National Fieldays Society (NZNFS) began building an online event following the cancellation of the physical Fieldays; effectively transforming the largest agricultural show in the Southern Hemisphere into a completely virtual experience. The success of the event, which was held from the 13th – 26th July, was measured in several ways, from visitor numbers to global reach. Total digital visitors hit 90,455, with attendees from over 75 countries accessing nearly 300 exhibitors and over 24 hours of Fieldays TV content. Digital adoption in higher age groups exceeded expectations with 40 per cent of registered users in the 50+ age group. “The analytics show great viewership and engagement with the explosion of international visitors and, locally, a much higher regional spread beyond the traditional Fieldays. The success of this years’ event was a testament to the strong collaboration with our exhibitors and our relationships with industry leaders that got behind it despite not having a benchmark,” said Peter Nation, CEO NZNFS. The timing of the event was positioned to allow time for exhibitors to return to business post lockdown and leverage the event to the fullest; whilst this fell during the beginning of calving, registered users in the dairy industry ranked third in industry type. “It’s great to see Fieldays increasingly showcasing how we take our agricultural innovation global. Supporting growth and uptake of agritech will help future-proof the industry, increase high-value exports while improving sustainability and efficiency,” remarked Simon Yarrow, Agritech Group Manager at Callaghan Innovation. International supporters, Enterprise Ireland, who attended Fieldays for the 14th year, found that moving to an online event widened engagement with clients and colleagues overseas. “Despite the cancellation of the […]

Research finds meat consumers prefer local

The country of origin is the number one characteristic consumers use when choosing meat, and they mostly prefer their own local products, a new Lincoln University study shows. This emphasis on locally grown meat was identified in new research* by Dr Nic Lees and Joshua Aboah. Dr Lees said the results had significant implications for New Zealand meat exporters, as in many markets New Zealand is competing with local products. “In these countries we need to provide consumers with a reason to choose our products rather than their locally produced beef or lamb. “Traditionally we have been able to compete by selling at a lower price. He said while the research showed that price is an important factor, there were other areas New Zealand could focus on to compete. For example, Dr Lees said, the fourth most important factor for consumers was the type of production system. “New Zealand has an advantage here because of our natural, grass-fed farming systems. “There is an opportunity to take greater advantage of this, however this requires communicating these attributes directly to consumers.” In the research, they sought to determine the most important indicators of quality that consumers use in their purchasing decisions, and analysed the results of 47 recent research articles on the topic. There were some exceptions to the “local products first” finding in countries where their consumers do not having confidence in their own food safety standards, such as China and Brazil. *Consumers use of quality cues for meat purchase: Research trends and future pathways https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0309174020300966?via%3Dihub

Ecogas processing of food waste to produce energy and bio-fertiliser at Reporoa

The start of construction of New Zealand’s first large-scale food waste-to-bioenergy facility at Reporoa, in the central North Island[1] will provide a model for all communities. The collection and processing of food wastes into bioenergy and bio-fertiliser will provide an example that all communities across New Zealand could follow said the Bioenergy Association. Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association said that “ The Ecogas processing of food waste uses proven technologies and is widely done in most other countries. New Zealand has been slow to adopt circular economy principles where food wastes are processed to make other products rather than discharge to landfill. There is no reason why all communities across New Zealand could not have zero organic waste going to landfill by 2030.” “The production of biogas from the waste will allow the generation of electricity, provide hot house heating, produce high value biofertiliser, and provide carbon dioxide for enhanced plant growth in the hot houses. These are valuable products which will reduce T & G Fresh’s horticulture operating costs and increase productivity. ‘This is on top of the avoided cost of disposing of organic wastes from the site, as well as those communities who have contracted to supply organic waste instead of disposing of it into landfills.” The BioenergyAssociation has identified that 1.8Mt CO2-e of greenhouse gases could be reduced if this type of project was extended to other food processors and communities. Mr Cox said that “Through its assistance from the Provincial Growth Fund it is great that the Government has recognised that using organic waste to produce energy and other co-products is good for business and communities and that proactive climate change policies can have a very positive upside to communities and the economy.” [1] EcoGas and T & G Global announcement https://tandg.global/new-zealands-first-food-waste-to-bioenergy-facility-gets-underway/

Igniting Irish and Kiwi innovation at Fieldays Online

World leaders in agriculture, New Zealand and Ireland have long been connected by a shared focus on innovation. ‘ The two island nations, despite being on opposite sides of the globe, both continue to push boundaries in the agritech sector. Nowhere is this clearer than the special relationship between the New Zealand National Fieldays Society and Enterprise Ireland. Over the years the Society has sent New Zealand innovations to the Irish National Ploughing Championships to participate in the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Awards and regularly hosts entrants from Ireland in the Fieldays Innovation Awards programme. Both platforms have been invaluable steppingstones for Irish and Kiwi companies into each other’s market. “This dynamic connection allows us to share knowledge and support our local entrants as they look to work in the Irish market. Covid-19 has highlighted the fundamental role of agriculture and food production around the world. Together New Zealand and Ireland are demonstrating how innovation is at the centre of stabilizing this for the future and the need to encourage and support innovators,” says Fieldays Innovation Awards event organiser, Gail Hendricks. Despite the physical Fieldays being cancelled this year, Fieldays Online provided a borderless digital platform for the awards for two weeks, with winners announced virtually on Friday 24th July. James Maloney, Senior Regional Development Executive at Enterprise Ireland, is a regular visitor to Fieldays and recognises the innovative commonalities between the two great agricultural nations. “It is a real bonus that Fieldays gave them a platform in 2020, having the innovative spirit and courage to adapt and deliver a virtual show in these very challenging times. Farming never stops and the companies and innovations involved in this resilient sector work with them every step of the way. “Both countries excel in pasture-based farming to deliver quality dairy food exports across […]

DairyNZ: RMA changes must deliver better outcomes

DairyNZ is backing changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) to deliver reduced compliance costs for farmers, increase efficiency and improve environmental outcomes. DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle said a comprehensive reform of the RMA is long overdue and would be a positive step not only for farmers but all New Zealanders. “The RMA has become too unpredictable and inefficient for applicants. Farmers will be keen to see this reform deliver a process which is faster, simpler and less costly,” said Dr Mackle. “Potentially replacing the RMA with two separate pieces of legislation for environment and planning makes a lot of sense and will deliver better outcomes for farm environments, which face different issues than our urban counterparts. “A separate environment act would also support clear and efficient environmental rule settings,” said Dr Mackle. “The proposal for each region to put forward a combined development plan has some merit. A regional view could support better decision-making on issues such as the appropriate use of land to lock up carbon and the opportunities to support land use flexibility through new irrigation. “We are asking all political parties to reflect seriously on these recommendations and to work quickly on achieving meaningful reform in the next term of Parliament.”

Genetic tools explain biocontrol mystery

Genetic diversity may be key to effective biocontrol, says an author of a paper investigating why a previously successful biocontrol agent has stopped working in parts of New Zealand. And that shows that scientists need to understand as much as possible about the genetics of potential biocontrol agents and their target pests from the outset, says Prof Stephen Goldson, Programme Leader at the Bio-Protection Research Centre. The scientists – including Dr Tom Harrop and Professor Peter Dearden from the Bio-Protection Research Centre and Genomics Aotearoa, and Dr Jeanne Jacobs from AgResearch, Lincoln – have shed light on why Argentine stem weevils have developed resistance to the parasitoid wasp Microtonus hyperodae, introduced in the 1990s to control them. Argentine stem weevils are a major pasture pest on New Zealand farms. Using DNA analysis and genome sequencing tools that were not available until very recently, the scientists measured the genetic variation in weevils collected from 10 locations around New Zealand. This revealed that the weevils are much more genetically diverse than previously thought. “Many scientists had presumed that Argentine stem weevils were probably introduced to New Zealand just once in the early 20th Century,” says Prof Goldson. “But the genetic variation discovered suggests they were probably introduced several times, and in much larger numbers than thought.” This genetic variation has allowed the weevils, which reproduce sexually, to mix their genes and become resistant to M. hyperodae, which reproduces asexually and so cannot easily evolve further. Three years ago, the same scientists presented compelling evidence the weevils were developing resistance to the parasitoid. This was a world first – there had never been a documented case of an agricultural pest out-evolving its introduced predator before. But the BPRC ecologists didn’t know exactly how or why this had happened so quickly. Ongoing study suggests […]

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