24 MARCH 2018
CLASSROOM TO PADDOCK
Preliminary planning has included the
development of a market-specific brand
name designed to be the exemplar brand
from New Zealand for China, along with market
plans involving target volumes, size profile and
supply phasing. The company will also schedule
a pre-season market visit in April to finalise
importer-distributor arrangements and identify
optimum sales channels to be pursued, looking
at a mix of both ‘off-line’ retail store format sales
and ‘on-line’ opportunities. New Zealand’s scale
and seasonality relative to the South American
supply nations will be a key consideration in
A pilot initiative between DairyNZ and Primary ITO
could give Share Farmer of the Year programme
entrants academic acknowledgement of their award
preparations for judging when studying for a New
Zealand Diploma in Agribusiness Management. New
Zealand Dairy Industry Association executive chair
Rachel Baker says the pilot will explore the pathway
of learning outside the classroom, and take account
of the significant amount of learning, effort and
development undertaken by entrants in preparation
for their judging in the share farmer programme.
“For this to be acknowledged with the opportunity
to be assessed for the diploma would add additional
value to entrants in our programme,” she says.
DairyNZ strategy and investment leader for people
and business Mark Paine says the organisation has
assessed the skills required in the industry over the
next couple of decades, and has identified that farm
management skills are the most critical for the future.
“This initiative with Dairy Industry Awards will
recognise the new farm management skills acquired
by our next generation of farming leaders,” Paine
OUR AVOS
TO CHINA
Leading avocado export supply
group AVOCO is already underway
with plans to start exporting its fruit
to China, following news that New
Zealand has been granted access
for the 2018/19 export season.
says. Primary ITO chief executive Dr Linda Sissons
says helping talented share farmers link their award
preparation to a recognised qualification and gain
an in-depth understanding of the core elements
and functions required to run a successful business
is crucial. “As well as being designed to fit around
work on-farm, the learnings from the diploma can
be applied immediately - whether it’s learning to talk
budgets like a bank manager, how to set goals today
and reach them tomorrow, or how to grow a team
that will grow the business.” In this first year of the
pilot, the share farmer category will be assessed in
the Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa, Waikato, Southland and
Canterbury regions, with the opportunity becoming
available to entrants in other regions if the pilot
programme progresses. The New Zealand Dairy
Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors
Westpac, DairyNZ, DeLaval, Ecolab, Federated
Farmers, Fonterra Farm Source, Honda Motorcycles,
LIC, Meridian Energy, and Ravensdown, along
with industry partner Primary ITO.
DOE A DEER
Deer breeders in New Zealand are celebrating
strong sales in sire stags, basking in the confidence
of the future profitability of venison and
velvet production. Deer Industry New Zealand
chief executive Dan Coup says breeders have
reported a marked improvement on last year’s
results and, although no stags broke the $100,000
mark, average prices have been high – several
by more than 50% - and overall clearance
rates were 94%. He says venison schedule
prices to farmers normally peak each year in
October before the last chilled shipments leave
for Europe for the annual game meat season,
but this season prices have continued to rise
into January, with the published average now
around a record $10.30 a kg for a carcase in
the preferred weight range. “The drivers in
the market remain unchanged from last year,”
Coup says. “Namely, lower production in New
Zealand, successful diversification by marketers
into new year-round markets and very strong
demand for venison from the United States,
both for grilling cuts and manufacturing grades.”
The company’s Asia market manager Rhys
Griffiths says demand for velvet from the two
main markets, Korea and China, has been strong
this season. Prices have climbed back to levels
reached two seasons ago, before changes in
Chinese hygiene regulations led to a loss of
buyer confidence unrelated to the long-term
demand for New Zealand velvet. “Total velvet
exports reached $43m in the 2015/16 season,
increasing to $59m in the 2016/17 season.
With a lift in the velvet price and the forecast
increase in production, another increase in the
value of velvet exports is expected this season,”
Griffiths says.