Save the date: Out the Gate Farmer Conference 2025, Celebrate National Lamb Day 2025, New Zealand’s red meat sector welcomes new trade agreement with UAE, Shearing wound protocol resource
This page contains this week’s e-diary national notices.
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This week’s notices:
Save the date: Out the Gate Farmer Conference 2025
Out the Gate 2025 powered by the B+LNZ Farmer Council and Kāhui will be held 26–27 March in Rotorua. It will be a fun, thought-provoking conference providing lots of food for thought about the business of farming, now and into the future. A range of inspiring keynote speakers and workshop sessions with local and global views of trends and opportunities, will be announced soon. The 2025 B+LNZ Annual Meeting will take place alongside Out the Gate and our B+LNZ Farmer Council conference will be the day prior. The main conference event will include plenty of variety, a gala dinner and a science and innovation breakfast session. Out the Gate will be a fantastic opportunity to get off-farm, talk to other farmers, get some new ideas for your business and have a bit of fun.
Celebrate National Lamb Day 2025
Mark your calendar for 15 February 2025 and join us for an even bigger National Lamb Day! This year, longtime supporters B+LNZ and AgProud are thrilled to welcome FMG and Rabobank to the celebrations. The event will kick off with a lamb BBQ at Parliament hosted by Minister McClay. Look out for a refreshed website, engaging video and social media content, competitions, and the official T-shirts available for purchase.
New Zealand’s red meat sector welcomes new trade agreement with UAE
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Minister for Trade Hon Todd McClay signed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) this week. The agreement eliminates all tariffs on frozen beef and sheepmeat from New Zealand. Chilled products are already tariff-free. The agreement provides significant opportunities for New Zealand’s red meat sector. The UAE is among the world’s wealthiest economies and there is increasing demand in the market for high-quality, safe, sustainable and nutritious red meat. The UAE is also a key halal market.
Shearing wound protocol resource
For the last few months, B+LNZ has been working with the New Zealand Veterinary Association, the New Zealand Merino Company and the New Zealand Shearing Contractors’ Association on guidance for farmers, shearers and veterinarians for dealing with wounds that occasionally occur at shearing. A woolshed poster is available on the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub. This can be used as a starting point for a conversation with your shearing contractor. More information including a factsheet will also be available soon – keep an eye on e-diaries.
China trade update
China has begun a safeguard investigation into imported beef. A safeguard investigation is a process that determines if a sudden increase in imports is causing or threatens to cause serious harm to domestic producers. B+LNZ and the Meat Industry Association are actively engaging with the New Zealand Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Countries do launch safeguard investigations from time to time and these follow established processes under World Trade Organization rules. This investigation by China is not specifically focused on New Zealand. Our red meat industry has a long history of supplying high-quality products to China, supporting a trade partnership that delivers value to both countries. We believe that New Zealand beef exports do not pose a threat to the viability of China's domestic beef market.
Red Meat Report – December 2024
At the end of last year, B+LNZ and MIA released the latest Red Meat Report, which is available to read on the B+LNZ website. This joint publication is a bi-annual update on key areas of work and initiatives within NZ’s red meat sector, including trade, environment, innovation, research, and people and training.
New Zealand Meat Board Annual Meeting and voting information
Voting information for the New Zealand Meat Board Annual Meeting will begin arriving in farmers’ email inboxes over the coming days. The Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday 19 February 2025 at 12pm. For farmers without an email address on file with the NZMB, the information will be sent by mail. You can register to attend the meeting by visiting www.nzmeatboard.org/annual-meeting-2025. Voting closes at 2pm Tuesday 18 February.