Tag Archives: David Carter

Nathan Guy new Primary Industries Minister

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Nathan GuyNathan Guy has been appointed as the new Primary Industries Minister as a result of the Prime Minister’s re-shuffle of Cabinet today.

David Carter, the current Minister for Primary Industries, will be the Government’s nominee for Speaker of the House following the departure of Dr Lockwood Smith.

The Prime Minister, John Key, took the opportunity presented by the change of speaker to look at the Cabinet line-up as a whole, “in the context of the Government’s priorities,” he said.

Primary Industries changes

Former farm manager, Nathan Guy, MP for Otaki, is the current Associate MiJo Goodhewnister for Primary Industries and was widely tipped as a favourite for the position. The 43 year old is a Massey University agriculture graduate who has also undertaken a number of study scholarships including a Kelloggs Rural Leadership course, a Winston Churchill Fellowship to the US and has also won a number of farming awards. From the meat industry perspective he is a former member of the Meat Research Advisory Committee and a former chairperson of Central Districts and Wairarapa’s New Zealand Beef Council, for which he was also deputy chairperson.  Jo Goodhew, member for Rangitata and a former nurse, will assist Guy in the Associate Minister position.

Food Safety

Nikki KayeFormer Food Safety Minister Kate Wilkinson will leave cabinet and will be replaced by 33 year old Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye. Kaye will take up the portfolios for Food Safety, Youth Affairs and Civil Defence. She will also be Associate Education Minister, reflecting her work as chair of the education select committee.

Other

Dr Nick Smith will return to Cabinet in the Housing and Conservation portfolios and Chris Tremain is to be appointed to Local Government.

The changes will take effect on 31 January, when the Governor-General appoints the new Ministers and all the necessary paperwork will have been completed.

“The refreshed Ministerial team is ready to continue the Government’s focus on is four key priorities for this term  – responsibly managing the Government’s finances, building a more competitive and productive economy, delivering better public services within fiscal restraints and supporting the rebuilding of Christchurch,” says Key.

New frontline border staff

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David Carter, NZ Primary Industries MinisterForty six new border staff graduated last week boosting New Zealand’s biosecurity frontline.

With training completed of the largest intake of border staff in over a decade, the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) issued warrants to 43 new quarantine inspectors and three new detector dog handlers at a ceremony in Auckland.

Welcoming the new graduates Primary Industries Minister David Carter said, “As Government had planned, these new border staff bring MPI’s bisoecurity frontline up to full strength and will help meet the demands of the summer peak season.”

The majority of the quarantine inspectors will be based in Auckland and five will go to Wellington. The three new dog handlers will go to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Four existing warranted quarantine inspectors who have trained as dog handlers also graduated. They join the 11 detector dog handlers that went through the MPI training centre earlier this year.

New programme to add value to beef

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A new $87 million innovation programme that will look at how more value can be generated from beef carcases has been approved for Government funding.

Ministry for Primary Industries director-general Wayne McNee today announced approved co-funding from the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) for the new Foodplus programme.

The PGP Fund is committing $43.5 million over seven years for the programme, which is worth $87 million in total and is being run by ANZCO Foods.

Foodplus will identify opportunities to create new products, with a particular focus on parts of the beef carcase that currently generate less value. ANZCO has identified three markets for innovative new products: food, ingredients and healthcare.

ANZCO Foods is a multinational group of companies and one of New Zealand’s largest exporters, with sales of $1.3 billion and employing more than 3,000 staff worldwide. ANZCO Foods also owns processing plants and a cattle feedlot: CMP, Riverlands and Five Star Beef.

“Adding further value to the carcase is essential for the future success of the meat industry,” says McNee. “ANZCO’s vision for Foodplus is relevant and bold and now backed by a significant investment.”

Rennie Davidson, CEO of ANZCO’s Food & Solutions division says ANZCO welcomes the opportunity to partner with the Crown on the Foodplus programme. “It is a large-scale project that wouldn’t be achievable without collaboration. We’re excited about the potential that this will bring to the sector.”

This announcement brings the Government’s investment in meat industry PGP programmes to $129.5 million, for projects worth a total of over half a billion dollars.

Minister welcomes announcement

David Carter, NZ Primary Industries MinisterPrimary Industries Minister David Carter has welcomed the announcement of another successful PGP bid which lifts the total invested in the variety of projects to more than $650 million.

“ANZCO’s proposal to generate more value from the beef carcase with its Foodplus programme is bold and innovative.  This is exactly what PGP is about – transforming great ideas into tangible R&D programmes focussed on results,” says Carter.

“Today’s announcement lifts the total government-industry investment in PGP since its inception three years ago to $665 million.  This is firm proof of the Government’s drive to lift economic growth through primary sector innovation.

“Thanks to the collaborative government-industry approach, we have relevant projects underway across a range of sectors from dairy, arable, red meat and wool to forestry, seafood and aquaculture and manuka honey.

“New Zealand stands to gain from innovative investment in its primary industries because our food, fibre, fishing and forestry sectors are at the heart of our economy,” says the Minister.

ANZCO Foods is a multinational group of companies and one of New Zealand’s largest exporters, with sales of $1.3 billion and employing more than 3000 staff worldwide. The company owns processing plants and a cattle feedlot within a group including CMP, Riverlands and Five Star Beef.

Australian agriculture minister to visit

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The Australian Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Hon Joe Ludwig will visit New Zealand for bilateral and primary industries meetings over the next two days.

Hon Ludwig, who will be joined by Primary Industries Ministers from NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory, will meet with Minister Carter this afternoon.

“This visit is a valuable opportunity to discuss two-way trade and issues in the primary sector that affect both Australia and New Zealand,” says Carter.

While in Auckland Hon Ludwig will also chair the Standing Council on Primary Industries meeting.

“This meeting is attended by Primary Industries Ministers from New Zealand and Australia and allows us to share approaches, ideas, and views on the challenges and opportunities facing the primary industries.

“One of the issues we will discuss is the food sector opportunities available to both countries.

“By focusing on our food industries, New Zealand and Australia have the ability to increase productivity, innovate and add value to the domestic and export sector. There are opportunities in working together.

“We enjoy a strong relationship with Australia, our largest trading partner, and meetings such as this play an important role in enhancing primary sector collaboration between our two countries,” says Carter.

Biosecurity reform bill passes into law

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The most significant changes to the Biosecurity Act in 15 years were brought into place this week, when the Biosecurity Law Reform bill passed into law.

The bill makes a wide range of amendments to the Act, along with related amendments to four other Acts.

“New Zealand has a highly effective biosecurity system which is recognised as world-leading, but the legislation has not kept pace with the way the system has had to evolve to meet ever-growing challenges,” says Primary Industries Minister David Carter.

“The amended Act covers the areas of border security, biosecurity, joint decision-making on newly detected harmful organisms and on-going management of established pests. the reforms will enable better use of information to target risks and encouage partnerships in the management of potential biosecurity incursions.”

A key plank of the reforms is the development of government-industry agreements on preparing for, and responding to, newly detected pests and diseases and for sharing the costs of jointly-agreed activities, the Minister says.

“Protecting New Zealand from biosecurity risks cannot be the role of government alone,” says Carter. “Industry expertise needs to be brought to the decision-making table to help improve prioritisation and our preparedness to respond to incursions.”

 

Building Export Markets, government releases progress report

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The Government has today unveiled its first Business Growth Agenda Progress report on actions to boost New Zealand exports. It is a timely appearance as the Primary Sector Boot Camp reaches its halfway point in the US.

Launched by Finance Minister Bill English and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, the Building Export Markets report from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) confirms the Government’s target to increase the contribution of exports to the economy from 30 percent to 40 percent of GDP by 2025.

English says this a challenging target and achieving it will require a concerted effort by New Zealand over many years. It will also require the continued development of new and expanding export markets.

“It is only through exporting that New Zealand, with a small domestic market, can deliver the growth and productivity required to enhance the wealth of our country and create more and higher paying jobs,” he says.

“Committing to this ambitious goal means the Government will stay focused on supporting firms to grow their exports.”

Steven Joyce says the report highlights the significant shift in economic power from the West to the East that is expected to happen over the next 20 years.

Building Export Markets is the first of six progress reports on the government’s Business Growth Agenda. Others will address innovation,skills, capital markets, infrastructure and resources. The reports lay out the work programme government agencies are implementing. Each has an informal portfolio group of ministers specifically grouped around the work streams, to drive the Business Growth Agenda forward and focus on what matters to business and companies.

Government intends to see three additional cross-cutting themes to be reflected across the Business Growth Agenda workstreams. These are: Maori Economic Development, Greening Growth; and Regulation. Better telling the ‘New Zealand Story’ is another Government priority and work is already underway with key stakeholders on “developing a compelling and consistent narrative about our country’s special qualities that work for a range of exporters and sectors,” according to the Ministers.

Actions contained in the Building Exports report include improving access to international markets, making it easier to trade from new Zealand, helping businesses internationalise, increasing value from tourism and high-tech manufacturing, growing international education and strengthening high-value manufacturing (including food and beverage manufacturing) and services exports.

“This first report is important, as it lays out the challenge for achieving growth – which is about being much more closely linked into the rest of the world and taking advantage of our opportunities,” says Joyce.

“While the world is going through tough times, the growth in Asian incomes will occur over the next 20 year. So there will be job growth, New Zealand’s challenge is to ensure it occurs in New Zealand, not in Australia, or somewhere else.”

The report shows that beef, lamb and wool accounted for 13 percent of New Zealand’s total $47.7 billion goods exports in 2011.

The Building Export Markets report is available here.

Carter in US for boot camp

Because of its size and importance, New Zealand’s primary sector, which currently accounts for 55 percent of exports is “critical” to achieving the government’s desired growth, the report says, so the outcome of this week’s Primary Sector Boot Camp at Stanford University will also be critical.

Minister of Primary Industries, David Carter, is part of the nine-strong Export Markets ministerial group, which also includes Prime Minister John Key, Steven Joyce, Murray McCully and Tim Groser.  Carter is travelling in the United States this week to attend the Boot Camp and also to talk with US agriculture sector political leaders and officials.

“This is an excellent opportunity for the leaders of some of our most forward-thinking primary sector companies to collaborate on formulating a plan to leverage New Zealand’s competitive advantage globally,” Carter said before he left.

“It’s not often that we can get a powerful group like this representing over 80 percent of New Zealand primary sector exports around the table, and I am confident of a positive outcome.”

About 20 leaders from New Zealand’s dairy, meat, seafood, wine and horticulture industries are among those attending the week-long camp alongside top government representatives from MPI and NZ Trade and Enterprise. The group will be hearing from first class speakers to inspire and motivate their thinking. The event has been supported with a $100,000 grant from AGMARDT.

Among the range of agricultural organisations the Minister is meeting with separately to discuss common New Zealand–US primary industry interests are the Tri-Lamb Group and US Cattlemen’s Association.

“These meetings further strengthen the New Zealand-US bilateral relationship and give our two countries the opportunity to canvass a range of issues in the primary industries policy area.  It is an opportunity to highlight the excellent collaborative work we already have with the US though the Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases,” says the Minister.

“I particularly look forward to discussions on the mutual benefits that will be realised through the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement currently under negotiation.

“The TPP is important to New Zealand’s trade future and this visit will provide the opportunity to take political level readings on its progress.”

In the news this week (3)

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People are key to the success of Riddet Institute’s Agri-Food Strategy wrote Jon Morgan in a Dominion Post opinion piece early on last week. “The prize is too great to abandon,” he said.

So, focus is now shifting to the week-long chief executives’ Primary Sector Boot Camp at Stanford University in California later this month, which will be attended by over 20 chief executives including meat industry leaders Keith Cooper of Silver Fern Farms and Mark Clarkson of ANZCO Foods, alongside Minister of Primary Industries David Carter. On the table for discussion will be the Agri-Food Strategy.

Agmardt is principal sponsor of the private sector-led chief executive forum designed to unlock the global potential of New Zealand’s primary sector. At the time of the sponsorship announcement at the end of April, Jeff Grant chairman of the Agmardt board of trustees said he regarded the boot camp as an ideal fit under the grant body’s new strategic priorities.

“A key outcome of the boot camp is to explore and drive in-market collaboration within New Zealand’s primary sector, which is strongly aligned with Agmardt’s new strategy to fund activities that enable New Zealand agribusiness to identify and explore potential opportunities within the global marketplace.”

Grant said the willingness by senior industry leaders to be involved in the camp to discuss and explore strategies for greater collaboration and alignment across a wide range of primary industries, “is extremely encouraging.”

Other supporters of the Primary Sector Boot Camp, which will comprise leaders from the dairy, beef, sheep, seafood, viticulture and horticulture sectors, include the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Ministry for Primary Industries and NZ Trade and Enterprise.

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Other news appearing over the week included:

Protein sources of the future –A new New Zealand/Dutch study has outlined the coming challenges to meeting future demand for protein. In a review published this week in the journal Trends in Food Science and Technology, Dr Mike Boland from the Riddet Institute and his colleagues at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands have drawn on a range of research sources to peer into the future of the world’s food supply. They say, as demand is outstripping supply of meat, mankind will “need to get creative” with its protein sources, considering competition between humans and pet food industries, noting that rabbits and other novel animal species, “should not be discounted as having an important part to play in future animal protein production systems,” and speculate that there may be ways to derive dietary protein from food waste from biofuel crop leftovers. Whatever happens, consumer acceptance will be key, say the authors.

New NZTE chairman – Interesting to note that former Fonterra chief executive, Andrew Ferrier, has been named as the new chairman of the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) board. Replacing Jon Mayson, he will commence his three year term on 1 November. Announcing the appointment, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says that Ferrier will bring “strong governance and strategic capability to the NZTE board”. Ferrier is a director of Orion Health Ltd and CANZ Capital Ltd. He was appointed to the University of Auckland Council in March 2012. Prior to his work with Fonterra, he was involved with the global sugar industry. Born in Canada, he has been a New Zealand citizen since 2008.

A new Code of Welfare for Meat Chickens came into effect on 26 July, setting out the minimum standards and best practice guidelines for the poultry industry. The new Code replaces the Code of Welfare for Broiler Chickens that was released in 2003. The new Code has a broader scope and includes chickens that have access to the outdoors, says the National Animal Welfare Advisory Council (NAWAC). “Another key change is that farmers will have to take the environment of the chicken into account when deciding how many chickens to keep in a designated area,” NAWAC chair John Hellström says. “Farmers will also be required to stay within the minimum standards for stocking density, but they will now have to also consider things like litter quality, lighting, air quality and temperature when deciding how to house their chickens.” Find out more here.

NZUS Council sponsors MPs visit to Washington – Two MPs Peseta Sam Lotu-Liga and Hon Shane Jones, co-chairs of the New Zealand US Parliamentary Friendship Group, recently returned from a successful NZUS Council sponsored visit to Washington DC. The visit – particularly timely given the stage of the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations – raised NZ’s profile and also gave the MPS the chance to gain valuable insights about US negotiating interests. In a full programme over a four-day visit, the MPs met with members of the Friends of NZ Congressional Caucus and a range of Congressional representatives and had meetings with senior officials in the State Department, Treasury and US Trade Representative’s office. They were also guests of honour at a well-attended lunch hosted by the US NZ Council. Other guests included Congressional staff, senior US company executives and Council members and supporters. The NZ US Council met the costs of the MPs domestic travel in the US and related on-the-ground costs. Arrangements in Washington were made by the New Zealand Embassy.

World price slump put lamb back on Kiwi menus – the NZ Herald reported over the weekend on the news that prices for Kiwi consumers are down too and they are responding enthusiastically. Read more… 

Finally, with the London Olympics in full swing this week, it seems only right to congratulate all of the Kiwi athletes, but particularly B+LNZ Inc’s bronze medal award-winning Iron Maidens Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh for their  success in the women’s pairs (rowing) and Alison Shanks (cyclist) for her tremendous efforts in the team event. All the best now to Sarah Walker (BMX) for her event yet to come on the world sports stage. Go Team NZ!!


 

 

 

 

 

Nearly quarter of a billion being invested in red meat

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Nearly a quarter of a billion dollars is being invested by the meat industry and the government in projects aimed at adding a potential $3 billion to returns over the next decade.

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)’s director-general Wayne McNee took the opportunity at the Red Meat Sector Conference to announce approved funding for the latest Primary Growth Partnership programme, which will enable the production of high-value marbled grass-fed New Zealand beef for premium export and domestic markets.

The initiative will develop marbling in grass-fed beef in the New Zealand beef herd, using Wagyu beef genetics, McNee explained. “MPI will invest in this programme with Brownrigg Agriculture and Firstlight Foods. The PGP is committing $11 million over seven years, for a programme worth a total of $23.7 million.”

Marbling, the distribution of fat through meat, is a primary determinant of quality in table beef in international markets such as Japan, China and the United States. Internationally, such high quality beef is produced mainly from cattle housed in pens and fed grain. ANZCO Foods has been producing a supply of hand-selected steers for Japan, raised on grass but finished on Canterbury grain at the Five Star beef feedlot near Ashburton for over 20 years.

To produce a comparable meat fed using New Zealand grass, the new PGP programme is aiming to develop an integrated value chain for the beef. It will combine high marbling Wagyu sires for the yearly mating of dairy heifers and cows and the development of rearing and grazing systems that will support year-round growth of the cattle.

McNee said the programme aligns well with the Red Meat Sector Strategy.

“The programme will produce unique New Zealand high-value beef for discerning consumers. It will link specialists in dairy farming, cattle breeding, finishing, processing and marketing and deliver market signals effectively right through the value chain,” he said.

David Brownrigg of Brownrigg Agriculture says it will be a significant opportunity for beef and dairy farmers to lift the quality and value of their calves and finished cattle.

“The New Zealand dairy sector represents an under-utilised resource for producing quality beef calves. Brownrigg’s Wagyu crossed with ‘Kiwi’ dairy cows and Angus beef cows will produce outstanding beef and help us lift our game in international markets,” according to Brownrigg.

Gerard Hickey, managing director of Firstlight Foods says a planned marketing programme to selected high-end global consumers will enable beef farmers to build their businesses with confidence.

Minister welcomes announcement

Welcoming the announcement, Minister for Primary Industries David Carter says, “The Government’s total investment so far of more than quarter of a billion dollars in PGP programmes, demonstrates its firm commitment to boosting economic growth through primary sector research and innovation.

“All New Zealanders stand to gain from the partnership because, alongside our internationally prized lamb, our beef sector is pivotal to the success of our economy.”

The announcement lifts the total government-industry PGP spend over the past three years to nearly $600 million. Nearly $86 million of government PGP funding has been allocated to three meat industry projects worth a total of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to date. These are estimated to potentially put over $3 billion more on the country’s GDP by the mid-2020s.

To date, PGP-supported meat projects include funding of up to $59.5 million over seven years for the $151 million Farm IQ project with partners Silver Fern Farms, PGG Wrightson and Landcorp Farming aimed at creating a demand-driven integrated value chain for red meat. Seven project streams and 18 sub-projects are working to improve the capture and utilisation of both market and farm production information. The information will then support the development of new value-driven genetics and extension work that underpin the programme.

Another $36.6 million PGP project with NZ Merino, including $15.15 million of PGP funding, is looking to develop merino sheep with meat, wool and other products suitable for market demands over the next seven years.

Also in the wings, is a project that has been approved to business plan stage and will potentially to be funded to the tune of $37 million, led and matched by funds from Beef + Lamb NZ Ltd focused on implementing a number on-farm elements of the Red Meat Sector Strategy. Other meat industry projects are also in the pipeline, according to MPI.

The PGP is expected to be fully subscribed by next year, says McNee.

An abridged version of this article appeared in Food NZ magazine (August/September 2012).

Call to arms for agri-food

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A proposal for a new Agri-Food Board is centre of a comprehensive new strategy aimed at tripling the value of exports for the agri-food sector to about $60 billion.

The Riddet Institute, a national centre of research excellence focusing on food, digestive physiology and nutrition, issued a ‘Call to Arms’ yesterday through the launch of its independent report on the future of New Zealand’s agri-food sector. The report calls for a joint approach from industry and government to drive the activities needed to treble the value of exports in the sector by 2025, as suggested in the Government’s Economic Growth Agenda in 2009.

The report contains options on how sector leaders can work together and why the agri-food industry should lead the strategy implementation work.

It was commissioned by the Riddet Institute and developed by an independent ‘thought leadership’ team led by Dr Kevin Marshall, former chief executive of the Dairy Research Institute, and prepared in response to a call by industry senior executives, who challenged the Institute in 2010 at its annual summit to develop a strategy for science and education-led economic advancement of the New Zealand food industry.

Dr Marshall said: “Our strategies are neither new nor unique, but, in the past, implementation by industry has failed. Crucially, we have provided a pathway and a proposed mechanism for action that will work. There is urgency now because New Zealand faces a mediocre economic future if we don’t drive the major recommendations in this report to fruition.

“Agri-food leaders need to know what to do, how to do it and how to develop the resources they need to do it effectively.”

Welcomed by the Minister

Minister for Primary Industries David Carter welcomed the report, which he said was a vital contribution.

“The Strategy Report highlights that if we are to achieve the standard of living we aspire to by 2025, we must treble the real value of our food exports to about $60 billion,” the Minister said, adding that to achieve a target of real compound growth rate of seven percent over the next 13 years, New Zealand needs to close a gap of current progress of around three percent.

“While the agri-food sectors have been successful, we need to grow faster. To realise growth, we need to collaborate, be innovative, build on our strengths and continue to earn our reputation for safe, high quality food, produced in a sustainable manner.”

New Zealand is lucky to have repositioned itself away from traditional markets, which are currently facing problems, towards Asia. “In the past financial year, exports to China have jumped by nearly 40 percent,” he said.

The Strategy

The task at hand “will not be achieved with business as usual,” Marshall explained.

He outlined the four transformational strategies proposed in the report are to:

  • Selectively and profitably increase the quantities and sales of the current range of agri-food products.
  • Profitably produce and market, new, innovative, high value food and beverage products.
  • Develop value chains that enhance the integrity, value and delivery of New Zealand products and increase profits to producers, processors and exporters, and
  • Become world leaders in sustainability and product integrity.

Four ‘enablers’ back the strategies. These include the development of transformational industry and Government leadership, strong consumer-driven export marketing of branded and consumer and ingredient product, increasing the capability and skills of the agri-food industry and supporting industries and increasing the amount and effectiveness of investment in innovation, research, development and extension supporting the agri-food industry.

He said the think-tank determined that current food industry strategies have not been achieved as they “depended too much on government taking the lead” and that the “captains of industry have not stepped up to take the leadership role.”

For that reason, the most important proposal is to establish an Agri-Food Board “to be the focal point for sector leaders to work together and for industry to lead the work with Government, overcoming barriers to implementation.”

Elements of the strategy link in with thoughts in KPMG’s Agribusiness Agenda for 2012, ‘People Unlocking the Future’ ably presented at the launch Ben van Delden. It also reinforces what the meat industry is already doing with the Red Meat Sector Strategy, B+LNZ Ltd chairman Mike Petersen said.

Strategic echoes include opening access to markets, together with the sector becoming more consumer-driven and collaborative. Discussion also worked its way around the need to attract, develop and retain new graduates and workers for the agri-food sector, the need to develop leadership within the industry and for behaviour and attitude change.

Over 120 attended the launch in Wellington that was attended by the Minister, agri-food industry leaders and senior government officials. Also speaking was NZ Merino’s John Brackenridge. The report will be on the agenda at the forthcoming Primary Industry Chief Executives’ Boot Camp in August at Stanford University, California.

Meat industry leaders, including Keith Cooper of Silver Fern Farms, Sir Graeme Harrison of ANZCO Foods, Sam Robinson of AgResearch, were amongst those who had contributed to the report.

The report is well worth a read to see where the sector’s going. Download a pdf copy of A Call to Arms: A Contribution to New Zealand Agri-Food Strategy or ask for a hard copy by emailing [email protected].