A boost of $18.4 million of operating funding over four years from Budget 2017 will help further strengthen the biosecurity system and protect our borders, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says.
“Biosecurity has always been my number one priority as Minister because the primary sector is the backbone of our economy. Unwanted pests and diseases have the potential to cause major damage to our producers,” Mr Guy says.
A significant boost of $30.5 million of operating funding over the next four years in Budget 2017 will upgrade and modernise the fisheries management system, including the roll-out of cameras, monitoring, and electronic reporting on all commercial vessels, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says.
“This funding will help introduce the world-leading Integrated Electronic Monitoring and Reporting System (IEMRS), which will give us arguably the most transparent and accountable commercial fishery anywhere in the world,” Mr Guy says.
Additional grant funding of $26.7 million over the next three years plus a capital boost of $63 million towards irrigation investments in Budget 2017 will deliver economic and environmental benefits through better use of water, says Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.
“A reliable water supply for growers and farmers has major potential to boost economic growth, creating jobs and exports in the regions. At the same time these schemes can deliver real environmental benefits by maintaining river flows and recharging groundwater aquifers,” says Mr Guy.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed the latest progress report of the Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord project, showing dairy farmers have now fenced off over 97 per cent of waterways.
“The Water Accord is a voluntary project led by the industry to improve farming practices and water quality. This Year Three update shows a range of targets have been achieved, including stock exclusion from 26,197 km of measured waterways which is the equivalent of Auckland to Chicago and back again,” says Mr Guy.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed the first export shipment of meat to Iran, scheduled for processing and export later this month by Wellington company Taylor Preston.
“This is great news for Taylor Preston and the wider meat industry,” says Mr Guy.
“It is only the start of what we are hoping will grow to become an important new market for our exporters.
The Government is to invest $2.8 million over the next four years on a new strategy to manage threats to New Zealand sea lions.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry have today announced a significant funding increase to ensure a comprehensive New Zealand Sea Lion Threat Management Plan at the Threatened Species Summit in Wellington.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has announced $5 million in new funding support for quake-struck farmers and growers.
The new Earthquake Recovery Fund will support projects that investigate long-term land use options and will also fund professional advisory services for future land use planning.
Recovery activity is progressing well after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake on 14 November, six months ago this Sunday, says Minister of Civil Defence Nathan Guy.
“The complex series of earthquakes ruptured 21 fault lines and rocked the top of the South Island and bottom of the North. Geonet reported that land movements and shaking were amongst the strongest in New Zealand ever and there was damage to homes, infrastructure, roads, rail and land,” says Mr Guy.
An innovative new Civil Defence campaign will help to improve the emergency preparedness of people under the age of 30, says Civil Defence Minister Nathan Guy.
“The new public education campaign targets people aged 18-30 who have a lower rate of preparedness for emergencies than the average New Zealander,” says Mr Guy.
Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy has welcomed the election of a national body to represent all 14 Rural Support Trusts across the country.
“Rural Support Trusts do fantastic work supporting our rural communities in tough times, and this new central body will make them more efficient and effective,” says Mr Guy.
“It will provide single point of contact for other national organisations and the Government, and help the different regions share resources and experience.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry say wilding pines control work has nearly reached its first year target of a million hectares.
“20 per cent of New Zealand will be covered in unwanted wilding conifers within 20 years if their spread isn't stopped. They already cover more than 1.8 million hectares of New Zealand and until now have been spreading at about 5 per cent a year,” Mr Guy says.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed $388,000 in new development grant funding for the Kurow Duntroon Irrigation Company (KDIC) from Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd.
“This grant is an important step forward for this project which could have major benefits for the North Otago region,” says Mr Guy.
The funding is required to complete the remaining work to reach construction commencement and confirm the commercial viability of the proposed scheme.
A biosecurity response is underway after the detection of myrtle rust on mainland New Zealand for the first time, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry have announced today.
Myrtle rust is a fungal disease which can seriously damage various species of native and introduced plants in the myrtle family, including pohutukawa, rata, manuka, gum, bottlebrush and feijoa.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed the official start of construction on Stage 2 of Central Plains Water, which could have economic benefits of up to $374 million.
Mr Guy accompanied Prime Minister Bill English in Darfield today to cut the ribbon signalling the start of construction on the project which will have the capacity to irrigate an additional 20,000 hectares.
The Government has today classified the flooding from ex-Cyclone Debbie in the Bay of Plenty as a medium-scale adverse event.
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy were in the Bay of Plenty today meeting with primary industry businesses.
“The classification of a medium-scale event makes extra recovery assistance measures available including recovery coordination, increased support through Enhanced Task Force Green teams and Bay of Plenty Rural Support Trust, as well as tax flexibility,” says Mrs Tolley.
A major breakthrough in breeding mussels commercially has been welcomed by Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.
“The first harvest of high-value greenshell mussels from a purpose-built hatchery means the industry will be less reliant on collecting unreliable wild spat,” says Mr Guy.
“Currently most wild spat is collected from seaweed on 90 Mile Beach. This innovation gives much more certainty to growers and means they can develop a higher value product with the characteristics consumers want, like size, colour and taste.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says activities to prevent the establishment of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) have ramped up over summer and helped raise public awareness of what is a serious biosecurity threat.
“This is a major agricultural pest worldwide, as well as a household nuisance. While it is found here from time to time, if it became established it would have significant economic and social impacts,” says Mr Guy.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy is welcoming new figures forecasting that primary sector exports will reach $37.5 billion for the year ending June 2017, up $0.8 billion from the previous December forecast.
“This is the first time the Ministry for Primary Industries has produced a quarterly update of its Situation Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI) which will give us a more accurate picture during the year,” says Mr Guy.
New Zealand Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Lithuanian Agriculture Minister Bronius Markauskas met on Monday in Vilnius, Lithuania to discuss a range of agricultural issues in each country.
"Clearly, there are many similarities between our countries, including the role of dairy in our respective economies," says Mr Guy.
“New Zealand is an example for Lithuania,” says Lithuanian Minister of Agriculture B. Markauskas
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Trade Minister Todd McClay have welcomed a Memorandum of Cooperation that allows for the export of chilled meat into China, calling it a big win for exporters.
“This is a fantastic step forward for New Zealand’s red meat sector, and a sign of the great relationship we share with China,” Mr Guy says.
The six month trial marks very positive progress for New Zealand’s work programme to expand market access to China for a range of our meat products.
Primary Industries Minister departs for Europe tonight for a series of meetings with his European and United Kingdom counterparts and to address the Forum for the Future of Agriculture in Brussels, Belgium.
“New Zealand has close ties with Europe and the UK and this trip will build on this,” says Mr Guy.
“These relationships are increasingly important to us as we work towards a free trade agreement with the European Union and, longer term, forge a new agreement for our trade with the UK following its departure from the EU.”
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Trade Minister Todd McClay have welcomed new funding of $35.3 million to help support our primary sector exporters succeed in overseas markets.
The funding, announced as part of the launch of Trade Agenda 2030 today, will be made available to the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) over the next four years as part of Budget 2017.
