Decades of dietary advice misguided

For at least the last 40 years international health guidelines have recommended minimising intake of saturated fats contained in red meat, dairy, cocoa and palm oil in a mistaken attempt to improve public health, particularly in first world countries. Heart disease skyrocketed to become the leading cause of death by 1950 and scientists hypothesised the cause to be dietary fat, particularly the saturated variety.

Advertisement

Long way from being out of the woods yet

The sense of calm and normality pervading the country for over three months has been shattered by the latest cases of community transmission the country. Until today New Zealanders have been going about their everyday lives, most of them still with jobs and being paid, at least until the wage subsidy ends, while the major concerns appeared to be what Judith’s raised eyebrows say, which political poll is closer to reality, and how many more people would break out of quarantine. Suddenly the media has a lot more than the election to get its teeth into.

Latest coronavirus not the end of the world as we know it

Newspaper headlines driving panic buying in Auckland supermarkets suggest either we are facing an existential threat or, more likely, a small percentage of the population is behaving like idiots, presumably stocking up large in case one Covid-19 case so far means they will have to self-isolate.

Social licence to operate just as important as methane reduction

Amid all the debate about agriculture’s responsibility to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets, and the appropriate levels for those targets, it may seem counterintuitive to claim an equally pressing problem is to earn a licence to operate. Just as great a threat to agriculture’s future is not whether it faces a potentially unachievable government imposed target, but a business environment in which consumers make their decisions based on their perception of the acceptability of the food they eat.

More dairy beef unlikely to flood the market

Meat processors have tried for years to encourage dairy farmers to up their numbers of beef cross calves and either keep them or onsell to rearers at three months old. Rearing white face dairy beef calves has long been an option for dairy farmers to generate more income, with rearers looking to buy bull calves to put weight on and sell to bull farmers targeting the US lean beef market. But the lure of higher profits from maximising milk production has until recently made it a relatively unattractive option.

Agricultural sector committed to meeting realistic targets

The negative reaction to the methane target range in the Climate Change Amendment (Zero Carbon) Bill should not be taken as an indication the rural sector is at all opposed to the purpose of the Bill, nor does it suggest unwillingness to be part of the solution. Industry bodies, including DairyNZ, B+LNZ, MIA and Federated Farmers, are fully committed to seeing their members do all that is realistically possible to achieve the overall greenhouse gas reduction target.

Unforgettable tour of the country

I have just returned home after two weeks touring New Zealand, mostly the South Island, by train and coach and can honestly say it was the most stunningly beautiful trip I have ever made. It even beat Sicily, Turkey, India and Japan, all of which at various times seemed to have taken the prize for the best trip ever.

Cooperative model not ideal for all business types

Cooperatives emerged in the 19^th century as an important business structure designed to protect the interests of a group of members, based on the principle of equitable distribution of benefits related to use or supply. The first New Zealand cooperative was formed in 1871 by eight cheese making settlers on the Otago Peninsula; by 1890 40% of dairy factories were cooperatives and by 1925 there were about 500, of which only three remained after the formation of Fonterra in 2001.

Reflections on the year that was

2018 is nearly over and it’s now time to reflect on what were the most notable events and issues of the year. It is also time to think about the implications for the future.

Fonterra – right question, wrong answer

Fonterra’s trials and tribulations have led to a rising crescendo of criticism of the cooperative’s performance since the release of the 2018 annual report. Declining share value and dividend payments, fluctuating milk price, inadequate return on capital, failure to match international and domestic competitors’ financial performance, failed investments, rising debt ratio and overpaid staff are the most notable criticisms.