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Primary Industries Ministers Nathan Guy and Jo Goodhew have welcomed $3.1 million in new funding for 13 climate change research projects in the agriculture and forestry sectors.

The grants were announced today by the Ministry for Primary Industries through the Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change (SLMACC) research programme.

“This funding plays an important part in helping our primary industries prepare for the future challenges of climate change,” says Mr Guy.

Two new reference groups will help support New Zealand’s climate change goals and reduce emissions from the livestock and forestry sectors, Primary Industries Ministers Nathan Guy and Jo Goodhew have announced today.

“As part of ratifying the Paris agreement on climate change, New Zealand has set a target of reducing our emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. The primary sector will need to be an important part of that,” says Mr Guy.

Primary Industries Ministers Nathan Guy and Jo Goodhew have welcomed Australian Ministers of Agriculture to New Zealand for a study tour and forum.

“The primary industries are the engine room of both New Zealand and Australia, and an important goal of both countries is growth in value-added products,” says Mr Guy.

The forestry industry has become the sixth industry group to join the Government Industry Agreement (GIA) biosecurity partnership, Primary Industries Ministers Nathan Guy and Jo Goodhew have announced today.

“It’s great to have the New Zealand Forest Owners Association (FOA) onboard, working with the Ministry for Primary Industries to manage and respond to the most important biosecurity risks,” says Mr Guy.

“A growing number of industries have now signed up to work together with the Government through the GIA.”

A demonstration of new forest harvesting technology near Nelson today marks a major step forward in ensuring the safety of forest workers working on steep land, Ministers Nathan Guy and Jo Goodhew say.

The demonstration featured New Zealand’s first ever remote controlled forest harvesting machine.

“This ground breaking technology, developed by the Steepland Harvesting Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programme, is the first of its kind in New Zealand, and we believe a world first for a tracked excavator-based felling machine,” says Mr Guy.

Primary Industries Ministers Nathan Guy and Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew have welcomed the annual KPMG Agribusiness Agenda, which shows strong industry support for the Government priorities of strengthening biosecurity and adding value to exports.

“This annual report surveys over 100 leaders in the primary sector and is a valuable snapshot of industry views,” says Mr Guy.

“It’s no surprise to see biosecurity highlighted again as the number one issue by industry, as it has been my number one priority since becoming Minister.

The Government is taking a criminal threat to contaminate food products very seriously, and is reassuring parents that our infant and other formulas are safe and that extra testing and security measures have been implemented as a further safeguard.

The New Zealand Police and the Ministry of Primary Industries announced today they have been working with a range of agencies to assess and respond to a threat to contaminate infant and other milk formula products in an apparent protest over the use of 1080 pest control.

The Government has welcomed the final report from the independent inquiry into last year’s whey protein concentrate (WPC) incident, and will be accepting all of its recommendations.

“The rigour and conclusions of the report, as well as the actions of key players since the incident, should further strengthen confidence in New Zealand’s world class food safety system,” says Mr Guy.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew have received the final report from the Government’s inquiry into the whey protein concentrate contamination incident last year.

Ministers will now consider the report and its recommendations. The report will be released along with the Government’s response within the next few weeks.

This part of the inquiry looks at how the potentially contaminated whey protein concentrate entered the New Zealand and international market, and how this was subsequently addressed.