Crowds at Mystery Creek Fieldays 2024. Photo: RNZ / Monique Steele
This week marked the kick off of the 56th National Agricultural Fieldays at Mystery Creek near Hamilton. Our team was there and you could read more about what they found here.
Some big announcements for the agriculture sector this week, with the Government confirming the sector will not enter the emissions trading scheme. It's also immediately disbanding He Waka Eke Noa - the government, industry partnership that had come up with a way to price on-farm emissions - to be replaced by a Pasture Sector Group, which will include groups like Dairy NZ, Beef + Lamb New Zealand and Federated Farmers to come up with solutions to reduce emissions. You can read more about that here.
The Government has also announced an inquiry into rural banking, following months of hearings about how rural lenders tend to face higher interest rates than their urban counterparts. You can read more about that here.
The Government has confirmed agriculture will not enter the emissions trading scheme. Pictured here, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Fieldays. Photo: RNZ / MARIKA KHABAZI
Picking for this year's avocados is underway and growers are hopeful of a turn around after two really tough seasons. Meanwhile a smaller apple crop could mean the fruit is in shorter supply this year. New Zealand Apples and Pears says the exportable crop is 11% lower than estimates made earlier in the season - with 18.9 million trays carton equivalents heading off-shore. You can read more here.
While the numbers are down, fruit quality is up and growers are eagerly waiting to see what returns they'll fetch overseas. Meanwhile, some vegetable growers are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, due to a national surplus of veggies and low prices.
The avocado harvest is underway. Photo: 123rf
