Some time ago i put my name in the hat for a directorship on Balance Nutrients. You no that farmers fertilizer company based in Tauranga. I stood 2x,s. In quick succession, I cannot recall the reason but it was 2013 ,the last time. First time the Co-op called for nominations and as soon as they were in, pulled pin and appointed a independent director?. This i questioned but got told to sod off and wait till next elections which came about pretty soon after. My point i whish to make is this. In my election blurb posted out, i stated that Balance Agri Nutrients business was unsustainable with regard to its environmental policy. All sustainable this and that etc etc. If you have been following the media you will have noted that fertilizer tonnages, P,K and S are well down. But to really get to the guts of the decline of Hill country production all you need to read is page 1 of the Rural News Jan 28th 2025. Ag Aviation in strife. Flying hrs for the aviation sector 3rd quarter 2020 were 5800 hrs. 3rd quarter 2024 3700 hr.. Whilst the author points the finger at Land Use Change, one must also consider all the hype surrounding organic this and that, and not to forget the regenerative farming . All pushed by so called experts onto uneducated , unsuspecting and impressionable young farmers. Believe me there is heaps of land crying out for Phosphate and Sulphur, but sadly the end result is Pine Trees. For unproductive hard hill country is earmarked for Land Use Change. How do the powers that be ensure the aforementioned. Just encourage woke farming practices. Thus my point. Thus Balances business model is unsustainable, and if the decline in fertilizer use continues. Well there will not be enough applications to sustain 2 Fertilizer Co-ops. My view and formed from within the science community, Govt wants to scale back Agriculture to a local trade industry. Now just how is that going to effect the players across the broad spectrum of the agricultural sector not to mention NZ,s economy. It is my view that the Coalition Govts is already in panic mode. Why. Trump effect. His determination to end “WOKE” Have you noticed on the internet ,already ,including MSN, and ph apps, the alternative view to climate change, questioning the cost of, science, and political reasoning. Almost immediately The coalition signed NZ up to the Paris Accord, in the dead of night Thursday the 30th of January. NZ has to cut its green house emissions by 50% by 2030 and another 50% by 2035. Or we all face a share of $24 billion in costs to buy off shore credits. Silence from the media. Think about what i wrote above.
Thus The Govt dispatched a study group this last week to Singapore to study its economic model. A country with a similar population to NZ, but a land mass the size to Wellington, (sic) with a percapita income twice or more of NZ,s. As i understand the foundation to its success is built upon discipline, respect, education, innovation and productivity. Good luck guys. My long term readers have read my post relating to NZ become the new technology gurus of the world.
Thus the above leads me to page 1 of the Farmers Weekly January 13th 2025. Looking to light a rocket under science. The need to address systemic issues rather than tinkering. 4 decades of policy inaction, lack of funding, (contestable) excessive bureaucracy and lack of long term certainty. Need 1 super entity with a common vision. Page 4 same. 4 decades of navel gazing, confusing research, science innovation and technology systems all declining in performance, capacity and trust. This demands a a reconnection across industry, university’s, and all other research providers. Even the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment ,Upton says says recent research of poor quality. I say recent because the climate change model is flawed and all the older science refuting thus has been cleansed from the system. thus the need to replace with Subjectivity. Something these scientists named in the paper are to afraid to say. Page 4 same paper.. Fund foundational studies, scientists urge. Uncouple scientific goals from political time tables.
Trees No Option. pg 8 same paper. Govt wants to plant vast areas of the south is high country in trees. Most of it accumulated from Tenure review once in sheep and cattle, and including Molesworth Station. Surprise surprise. Environmental Defence Society pres Gary Taylor describes the idea as as a exercise in Green Washing.
Did you no that eating Vegi burgers makes you sad? A recent study found just that University of Surry research paper. Page 13 same paper. Phil Weir comments on the bursting of the billion $ fake meat bubble. Investments in alternative proteins dropped 42% in 2022. Funding for cultivated meat start ups dropped 78% .in 2023, But these guys haven’t given up and it is his view that consumers exercise less choice with complex corporate customers in control. Humm wonder who they really are????. And i bet it is not only limited to fake this and that.
Buy for now. Sorry for being abit late with this.