Agsafe Weekly Rural Report

Finance: The NZ dollar finished the week up on the previous against the US dollar which is weakening against many currencies as Trump starts a tariff war. Brent Crude fell below $70.00/barrel. World markets are in turmoil as they anticipate Trumps next move.

Wool: Wool prices There was good demand @ latest sales but prices are still not enough to sustain the wool industry.

Beef, Sheep & Venison schedules: Meat schedules are mostly steady to firmer across with the lower dollar and the increased demand for red meats especially the manufacturing beef in the USA. Venison prices are good, lamb and beef schedules are OK.

Dairy Prices. The g/DT eased slightly by 0.5% & it will not affect the predicted dairy payments. WMP down 2.2% but is still over $US4,000/tn. Cheddar up 1.1% & butter was up 2.7%. It was considered to be a good result.


Adrian Orr has resigned as governor of Reserve Bank, Greg Foran has resigned as Boss of Air NZ, Richard Prebble resigned from Waitangi Tribunal, Phil Goff has been sacked from the job of High Commissioner in the UK, the Head of Pharmac has resigned, 2 top Health Department managers resigned. Who is next? Elon Musk hasn’t set foot in NZ yet.

Jim’s Weekly Rant:

Can you remember ever stopping the car and putting one of the kids out to walk because of the battle going on in the back seat? After a short walk and some reflection peace was usually restored and the trip then became a fun place to be. What a week it has been with Trump in the drivers seat putting Zelensky out for a walk before he realized that peace was with the USA providing protection for its people working in the Ukraine. The comments I have read have bought out the best and the worst in people as they have tried to navigate a way through the game of “Trump” where he went from a hero seeking peace to the villain as being Putin’s puppet. I will make some comments that some will agree with and others will be frustrated or even annoyed but that’s OK. Firstly, I do not believe that Trump ever supported the Putin regime and it is important to remember that when negotiating any deal you cannot show distain to one party and support for another and expect to get a decent lasting deal completed. The day Trump calls Putin a murderous dictator is the day Putin stops talking rationally with him and the trust is gone forever and any peace arrangement is impossible to manage. Trump was able to be tougher on Zelensky as the might of Europe was behind Zelensky and Europe has a special arrangement with the USA, so Zelensky was never abandoned. So, what does the mineral deal offer to the Ukraine? Ukraine is a very rich land mass with an abundance of rare-earth minerals. The deal will allow the USA to mine the minerals and US citizens will be on the ground. Putin will not attack the US citizens in the Ukraine as they will be protected by the US military who will operate differently from a normal peace-keeping force. Trump and others are frustrated with the United Nations so with US troops on the ground a more lasting peace could be considered. The UN Peace-Keepers which are mostly ineffectual will not be required. The other important metric has been seeing other countries, including ours, start talking about having defense budgets at 2% of GDP, something the USA has been advocating for many years. The USA has since WW2 been the defense back-stop for most nations and even the NATO members from Europe have not maintained their obligations under the agreed treaties. But a few fun facts to keep us all on our toes – there are approximately 510 million people in Europe & UK, 330 million in the USA & 140 million in Russia. The oil sales from Russia to Europe are said to be greater than the money that Europe has spent on defending the Ukraine. Even Australia gets fuel from India which buys the raw oil productions from Russia, so we need to ask who if funding the Russian war effort? It is a strange world we seem to live in and all it has taken is one guy to throw the accepted order of diplomacy out the window and reconfigure what is left!! We will debate the situation for years trying to decide if Trump is a hero or a villain, and idiot or a genius, a master -strategist or a bully. Whatever you answer or wherever you are on the continuum of the debate or the issues, act with care and respect and remember that all of this has been an attempt to create peace and dissipate the tensions between countries and hopefully friends.