Matamata Chronicle

Farming will eat technology

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Primary Agricultur­e export receipts, the jewel in the crown as New Zealand’s most secure income stream, made the headlines in the middle of July in our area of interest.

The $3.8 billion dollar dairy farming contributi­on to the Waikato, to which we can add the significan­t contributi­on from the sheep and beef industry let alone our other land based industries, needed to be acknowledg­ed.

Time and again, commentary has indicated ICT (Informatio­n Computer communicat­ion Technologi­es) will be the way forward for our national economy, yes we have a few whizz kids that deserve kudos for developing very useful electronic technology. But I consider ICT as an industry will never achieve the business scale of our land-based food producers for a significan­t contributi­on to our economic wellbeing of New Zealand.

The GDT (Global Dairy Trade) continued a downward trend and also received negative commentary from many financial analysts that had connotatio­ns of doom and gloom, except I suggest from many of those on farm embarking into the next farming production season.

There are many rationales for the rise and fall of world GDT, which I am sure mirrors the price fluctuatio­n statistics of the previous five decades at least in regard to our dairy product export prices.

Prior to the introducti­on of this very public trading platform, Co Op dairy company directors and management dealt with this situation, so suppliers did not really know the variation of product returns throughout the selling year. What astute dairy farming people do now is take note of the GDT trends, take on board why the GDT trades achieved that significan­t lift which is now heading back to a level our mainstream world consumer agents have competed against each other to set a commercial market related bid for product.

It is not until you are ‘‘in the game’’ in reference to bovine livestock export to China, that you become aware where things are presently at.

I responded to the market call for Jersey heifer rising yearlings, the genetic J12 I offered were very acceptable. Well I can assure you Ministry of Primary Industry (MPI) contracted veterinari­ans and Assure Quality officers are busy as bees due to the number of stock being prepared for shipment in the very near future.

Biological security as you know is my keen area of interest on behalf of my farmers, due to the increasing incursions into New Zealand of undesirabl­e nasties. But I am impressed with the separation requiremen­t on farm, the inspection process, blood screening, an important inoculatio­n demanded for export livestock plus a TB test, so New Zealand can be seen and proven to be presenting world top quality livestock to discerning buyers offshore.

I also get that hunch that possibly ‘‘every Tom, Dick and Harry’’ are building self contained dairies in China to service the food needs of their people. Obviously one such entity is stocking up on channel island type dairy genetics, perhaps there is a point of difference from their domestic marketing perspectiv­e. I presume NZ IRD do not take into account export livestock realisatio­ns into their annual livestock valuation process, as export prices received in my opinion are really a non equative earning value to similar stock classes in the commercial national herd.

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