[14 December/NZ Herald] Dairy exports to China from the United States were down 47% in October due to retaliatory trade tariffs, which China imposed from July. But US dairy exports to other countries were up 14% in October, with large gains in sales to southeast Asia and Mexico, according to the US Dairy Export Council....
[13 December/Dairy Reporter] Arla Foods has announced that it will be acquiring Mondelez International’s processed cheese business currently licensed under the Kraft Brand in the Middle East and North Africa. The region is a key growth focus for Arla and the deal will provide it ownership of a cheese production facility in Bahrain, providing opportunities...
[12 December/Food Dive] The USD867 billion Farm Bill proposal reported from committee and passed by the Senate is being welcomed by the Organic Trade Association (OTA) as it establishes permanent funding for organic research and makes progress in improving the oversight and integrity of organic trade. The permanent funding comes in the form of a...
[12 December/QZ] In a first of its kind contract has been signed by JUST and Toriyama Ranch, which will see the high-end Japanese beef ranch working with a cell-cultured meat producer. JUST will source its beef cells from actual cuts of Wagyu beef or the live cows themselves which will then be transported from Japan...
[11 December/CNBC] The US Department of Agriculture has finalised rules that will loosen nutrition guidelines around the composition of school lunches in the United States. The rules rollback certain provisions of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act and will allow lunchrooms to serve low-fat flavoured milk as opposed to only non-fat flavoured milks. The changes will...
[11 December/FiercePharma] Jean Scheftsik de Szolnok, Boehringer Ingelheim’s (BI) president in France, said BI is making a big strategic commitment to animal health by investing EUR335 million in its French animal health R&D and production facilities. Following BI’s USD12.5 billion asset swap with France’s Sanofi in 2016, where it traded its’ consumer health business for...
[16 December/NZ Herald] Forest & Bird is calling for the wider Hauraki Gulf to Bay of Plenty crayfishing area (known as CRA2) to be closed to all fishing for three years to allow the species sufficient time to start recovering. Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate, Katrina Goddard, said without an urgent end to fishing...
[17 December/The Country] The Government remains confident that the cattle disease, Mycoplasma bovis can be eradicated in New Zealand, which would be a world first if successful. Biosecurity Minister, Damien O’Connor, spoke alongside Jacinda Ardern at the Prime Minister’s post-Cabinet press conference. The Government announced a massive response in May after the disease was detected...
[12 December/NZ Herald] Wool industry professionals and members of the Wool Industry Education Group (WIEG) will be supporting training organisations to improve wool industry training qualifications in the coming year. NZ Wool Classers Association board member and WIEG facilitator Allan Frazer said the certificate in wool technology, level four, was for people working in the...
[12 December/Dairy News] The Government has announced that Warren Parker has been appointed to role of chairman of state farmer Pāmu Farms (Landcorp). Mr Parker is a former chief executive of Scion (NZ Forest Research Institute) and Landcare Research, and was previously chief operating officer of AgResearch. He chairs the Forestry Ministerial Advisory Group and...
[13 December/Otago Daily Times] New Zealand King Salmon proposes to seek approval for a third monitoring site as it seeks to test the viability for offshore fish farms in Otago. The Otago Regional Council intends to process the consents itself, instead of calling in the Conservation Minister. The company had applied for consents in Otago...
[16 December/Stuff] Babich Wines has avoided convictions for contamination charges after demonstrating “extraordinary remorse” in a landmark pollution case. Runoff from the company’s new grape marc pad, leaked into the ground contaminating neighbours’ wells in 2016. The pad was not tested before it was used, and the leachate seeped into three shallow groundwater bores, which...
[16 December/Stuff] The rain during the late spring and early summer period has caused stone fruit crops to split and rot, meaning there is lower supply at New Zealand’s fruit stalls and supermarkets in the run up to Christmas. Marlborough cherry growers suffered their wettest season in a decade. Cherrybank Orchard, just south of Blenheim,...
[14 December/NZ Herald] NZ Landcare Trust’s long-time chairman, Richard Thompson, has retired after 22 years on the board. Fiona Gower will replace Thompson as its first woman chair; Ms Gower is also Rural Women New Zealand National President. Mr Thompson started as a board member at Landcare before taking on the chairman role in 2005...
[12 December/NZ Herald] The Coalition Government has announced a raft of changes to the ETS as it strengthens the scheme to utilise it as the country’s main tool to battle climate change. The changes including putting a cap on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), limiting the number of units that can be traded, and incorporating...
[16 December/NZ Herald] Fonterra is optimistic that Beingmate Baby and Child, the Chinese infant formula company that the co-op has an 18.8% interest in, has turned the corner. The co-op earlier this year wrote down the value of the stake by $405 million. The company has forecast a 28m renminbi (RMB) ($5.9m) to 78m RMB...
[14 December/The Country] The Commerce Commission’s final report on the latest season’s milk price manual gave Fonterra Cooperative Group a ‘pass’ mark, saying there were no major concerns over the latest amendments, however the Commission noted that it is looking for more transparency from the dairy processor. The Commission said it will take a closer...
[10 December/NZ Herald] British restaurants are being encouraged to take avocados off their menus, amid fears profits are being used to fund Mexican drug cartels. Drug bosses have taken control of farms growing avocados in Michoacan in west Mexico, reports the Daily Mail. One of the area’s most prominent drug cartels is said to earn...
[6 December/Food Dive] The U.S Department of Agriculture awarded Maine-based VitaminSea a USD600,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant to develop a seaweed-based bread called SeaKelp+, according to BakeryandSnacks. Last year, the USDA provided the company $100,000 to begin developing the prototype. The second round of funding will allow the company to begin recipe collaborations with...
[6 December/FoodNavigator] Nestlé says it will research recyclable, biodegradable and compostable polymers, functional paper, new packaging concepts and technologies to increase the recyclability of plastic packaging. This is part of a programme of work which will be tested in different product categories before rolling it out across the group’s global portfolio. A spokesperson for Nestle...
[6 December/FoodNavigator] Farmlogics software tool gives suppliers more control over their operations by “digitising the field”, according to Froid Mendez, co-founder and chief operating officer (COO) of Cochin-headquartered Farmlogics. The technology offers several products at various prices. Cocoa, palm oil and rubber producers are already using it in West Africa. It could also be used...
[9 December/Plant Based News] A Canadian vegan meat startup is set to open its first plant-based butcher shop in Canada just before Christmas. Real Fake Meats, whose store called Plant-Based Butcher, will open in Halifax, Nova Scotia, will include vegan turkey, bacon, chicken, pepperoni, and cheese. Holiday Boxes are available to order online now and...
[7 December/ABC] Internationally recognised as a pest-free region, the town of Riverland, in South Australia has had a fruit fly outbreak. Seven male Queensland fruit flies have been found in the Loxton area. Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development for South Australia, Tim Whetstone, said a team of 50 Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA)...
[5 December/The Guardian] According to a new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI), people in rich nations will have to make significant cuts to the amount of beef and lamb they eat if the world is to be able to feed 10 billion people. According to the report, more than 50% more food will...
