Agsafe Weekly Rural Report
Finance:. NZ dollar eased over the week and remains a very weak currency – we have no internal protection against international events!!. The Brent Crude jumped to over $100/barrel but was back to $US96.58 this morning as the war ramps up.
Wool: The crossbred wool prices OK and there is still growing optimism in the coarse wool markets.
Beef, Sheep & Venison schedules: The meat schedules remain steady across all categories. All meat schedules remain firm as demand continues to grow for red meats internationally.
Dairy Prices. The g/DT lifted 1.5% with a large offering. WMP was up 1.6% to $US3486/tn, SMP lifted 2.8% while Buttermilk Powder was the big mover up 10.5%. Cheddar dropped 6.5%. The positive auction was welcomed by all!!!.
The 2025/26 annual accounts are starting to be finalised and it’s an opportune time to undertake some in-depth analysis of the business you are running. The analysis of the different areas of expenditure compared against industry norms is a good place to start. The cost of feed per kg ms produced, tractor hours against fuel usage and animal health costs per animal are all important pieces of information. It is essential that you know and understand your business. Good financial management can add $0,000s to the bottom line!!
Quote: “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
Need Help. If at any time you just want to talk & need someone to talk to, just call - Male Support Services (Waikato) 0800-677-289, or Rural Support Trust 0800-787-245. Crisis TXT – HELP (4357). A shared problem can be a problem solved!!
Jims Rant
Occasionally there are weeks like this last one where I could rant for pages about some of the goings-on as portrayed in the media. It looks as though it will get worse as the election cycle gets underway. We have had Paul Henry, Stuart Nash, Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and the $60 million bail-out of Fletcher Cement together with James Renwick and the Climate Commission report, Bryan Leyland’s paper on Solar and renewables, a new PM in England, the escalation of the war in Iran, and of course Ryan Fox’s magnificent win in the Golf Open, followed up by Jack Tame’s biased interview with Paul Henry last Sunday, or is that just about the left-wing media and the reporting in general. The ETS is the primary method for the New Zealand Government to achieve its long-term commitment to reduce the countries GHG emissions. 'Emissions trading' is a market-based approach for reducing emissions of GHG. The ETS puts a price on emissions, by charging certain sectors of the economy for the GHG they emit. On an annual basis these sectors must calculate their emissions by submitting an emissions return. The businesses must then acquire and surrender New Zealand Units (NZUs) or other eligible emission units to account for their direct GHG emissions or the emissions associated with their products. With the post-1989 forestry sector, returns must be submitted at least every five years. Emission units, (carbon credits) are traded between participants in the Scheme. An emission unit can either represent one metric tonne of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent of any other GHG. The primary unit of trade is the NZU, which are created by the New Zealand Government and allocated to organizations and individuals participating in the Scheme. The trigger point in the ETS (that is the participant in the scheme) is as far upstream in the supply chain as possible. This means most businesses in New Zealand are not required to be participants in the ETS, yet they do as we all saw this last week. The Government handed out $60 million to the cement works at Marsden Point to allow them to remain competitive against countries that have no ETS and couldn’t care about the nonsensical Zero-Carbon targets set by the Paris Accord. The simpler plan would have to just ditched the ETS and the NZ Zero-Carbon targets set for 2050. New Zealand is one of the few remaining countries worried about Net-Zero and still trying to meet the mythological targets that will serve no purpose what-so-ever. James Renwick, the Prof of Climate Idiots at Wellington University is calling for more action as NZ falls well behind its Net-Zero targets in spite of PM Luxon’s statements that the country is on target to meet the 2050 targets. With the up-coming election it is an opportunity for everyone to challenge the authorities about the ETS, Net-Zero and the Paris Accord. New Zealand does not need to be the “last-man-standing” on a failed international philosophy. Gather your facts together and get ready to fight!!! The Cement company bail-out was a great example of how the nonsensical system is and how it has failed NZ!!