Business

A recent survey conducted by business advisory firm Crowe Horwath during the Southern Field Days asked farmers, rural professionals and others heavily involved in New Zealand agribusiness for their views on the industry’s key influences. Technology, farm management practices, favourable interest rates, improved rural connectivity and continued education and training were identified as the factors most likely to have a positive influence on the industry over the next 12 months. Respondents were most concerned about the negative impact of low commodity prices, regulation (both at a local and central government level), succession issues, climatic conditions and human resources. “The results are not overly surprising and have reaffirmed what our clients have been telling us around what concerns them,” said Hayden Dillon, Crowe Horwath’s Head of Corporate Agribusiness and Capital Advisory. On the negative side, commodity prices created the greatest level of concern with nearly 65% of respondents identifying this as highly likely to have a negative impact on the sector during the next 12 months. Succession, which seems to continually crop up as a major issue for New Zealand farmers, scored highly as a negative influence with 60.82% agreeing it was highly likely to impact negatively on agribusiness in the next 12 months. Dillon agreed that given the current state of the industry, succession was a pivotal issue. He advised, “The challenge around bringing the next generation into farming is nothing new and with the state of the some parts of the industry at the moment, it is no surprise it might not be seen as the most attractive career path.” Given the recent press coverage around environmental and health and safety law reform, survey respondents were also concerned around both central and local government regulation and the impact this may have on their businesses. On a positive note, the […]

The training organisation for the primary industries, Primary ITO, has secured the services of seven tutors to deliver their off job classes in Otago and Southland following the liquidation of training provider Agribusiness Training Limited (ABT) late last year. ABT delivered the ITO’s off job classes for Primary ITO agricultural training programmes in the region. However, in December it was announced ABT was in liquidation and the business is no longer operating. “The closure of ABT presented a challenging situation for us,” explains Primary ITO Otago and Southland Regional Manager, Andrew Shepherd. “However, we’ve taken the opportunity to contract the tutors directly as we believe this will enhance the already successful working relationship we’ve shared with them in the past. We know they’re committed to quality delivery, and the decision has the support of both local industry and our customers. Primary industry training in the region will continue to be of the highest possible quality. We’re back to business as usual.” “I know all the tutors are really excited to get started,” Andrew says. “Securing tutors in Otago and Southland forms an integral part of our launch into Primary ITO’s new programme delivery which will better meet client needs,” says Alister Shennan, Primary ITO GM Field Operations. In November, Primary ITO launched brand new training programmes for the agriculture sector. This was the first launch of the new programmes, which will be filtering out across all Primary ITO sectors – horticulture, sports turf, equine, seafood and food processing – over the next two years. “The new programmes aim to ‘work the way you work’ and are more holistic and applied. This means there will be more learning in the workplace, and less time spent in the classroom. Our new programmes are designed with industry to ensure our learners leave with […]

The Ministry for Primary Industries expect meat and wool, horticulture and forestry export revenues will support New Zealand’s primary sector export growth to 2017, and help offset the recent year’s fall in the dairy sector. The signs across the primary sector are encouraging with New Zealand’s primary sector export revenue expected to increase to $37.6 billion in the year ending June 2016, up $1.9 billion from the year ended June 2015, according to the Ministry for Primary Industries updated Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI). The December update incorporates changes to export volumes and currency movements from MPI’s previous June 2015 SOPI publication. The meat and wool sector is expected to continue its strong growth, with a forecast revenue increase of $910 million to June 2016 (or 10% from June 2015 actual figures) due to strong demand for beef exports from the United States. New Zealand will meet its allowable beef export quota to the USA this season for the first time since 2004. Chinese demand for wool also remains strong. Milk production is expected to be down 7 per cent this season compared to last, due to current dairy prices. However, prices are expected to rebound by late 2016, early 2017, as current dairy stocks are worked through and demand levels increase. The forestry sector is forecast to grow $613 million, even though Chinese demand for logs is reduced due to a continuing slowdown in the Chinese construction sector. MPI expects an increase in exported timber volumes to help offset this reduction in log exports. The seafood sector will be supported by favourable climatic conditions and the opening of two new salmon farms which will contribute to an expected $200 million export revenue increase in this area. Pipfruit and wine revenues continue to grow as kiwifruit yields reach […]

Checking animal location and grazing behaviour is part of the updated suite of reports for the widely-used farm management tool, Overseer. The placement of animals on farm can have a significant impact on predicted nutrient losses, and so the new reports allow for review of where animals are placed, making it easier to test the potential outcomes of changing the location of livestock and adjusting stocking rates. While farmers have a good knowledge of where their animals are on a farm, checking where they have been entered into Overseer has been more difficult. The release of Version 6.2.1 has made this easier through the inclusion of a series of animal reports that describe how the software manages grazing animals. “Overseer is now in its sixth full version upgrade, with multiple enhancements made to the software between versions to include further management options and to address issues that arise as the software is developed,” says Caroline Read, General Manager of Overseer. “The new Animal Reports are a response to demand for more information and a greater understanding of how Overseer manages information,” she says. She believes the interest in Overseer demonstrates New Zealand’s desire to farm efficiently and effectively. “The Overseer story is one that dates right back to the 1990s, with the very first Overseer software application being produced in 1999. Just like updates to other software, such as smartphone operating systems, the Overseer software has been kept updated over time to meet the changing needs of its users,” she says. “We often field questions and ideas regarding the use of Overseer, and because there is nothing else like it in New Zealand, the development possibilities are far-reaching.” she says. Six exciting strategic initiatives have been identified for the future development of Overseer, which will be revealed at the launch the Overseer […]