Allan Barber

About

Now in his semi-retirement at Point Wells near Warkworth, Allan is a freelance agricultural journalist writing mainly about the meat industry which has remained his key area of interest since leaving AFFCO in 1997.

Member for

11 years 10 months

Latest articles

Alliance optimistic despite horror result

Allan Barber reviews Alliance Group's poor trading result and tries to make sense of the company's optimism in light of some strong market headwinds, as well as their capital structure that is not bolstered by others

5th Dec 23, 4:05pm

by Allan Barber

Land restoration workshop in the Mahurangi region

Huge soil loss requires change to farming methods

Allan Barber reviews the community effort going in to land restoration and the related workshop in the Mahurangi region. He also delves into an example of one farmer tackling his erosion problem

21st Nov 23, 9:42am

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber reviews the community effort going in to land restoration and the related workshop in the Mahurangi region. He also delves into an example of one farmer tackling his erosion problem

Downstream impacts of growing forestry conversions have meat industry on edge

Allan Barber reports that meat processors are assessing the changes they will need to make as forest conversions eat into their livestock supply flows

1st Nov 23, 12:24pm

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber reports that meat processors are assessing the changes they will need to make as forest conversions eat into their livestock supply flows

Land use change threatening livestock numbers and rural communities

Allan Barber says allowing fossil fuel emitters to offset 100% of their emissions by carbon farming gives them an unjustified advantage over food farming land uses, hollowing out the hill country communities especially

24th Oct 23, 12:01am

by Allan Barber

Longer-term trade prospects better than next 12 months

Allan Barber says understanding the customer's customer has added importance in China for New Zealand food exporters. Local market experts like Mark Tanner and David Mahon can provide key insights

3rd Oct 23, 8:17am

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber says understanding the customer's customer has added importance in China for New Zealand food exporters. Local market experts like Mark Tanner and David Mahon can provide key insights

HWEN (in its present form) may be in its death throes

Allan Barber sees the recent tone deaf announcement from Damien O'Connor enabling policies that incentivise the wrong outcome, and risking dangerous delays to the sustainability progress that the HWEN consensus has already won with farmers

12th Sep 23, 10:51am

by Allan Barber

Avoid being caught in the crossfire

It is one thing for our trade negotiators to win benefits and concessions. But the value is lost if exporters and traders apply to use them

22nd Aug 23, 4:27pm

by Allan Barber

It is one thing for our trade negotiators to win benefits and concessions. But the value is lost if exporters and traders apply to use them

Minister of Agriculture, Damien O'Connor, and shadow minister Todd McClay

Political debate generates amusement, a few sparks, but not much light

The 2023 Red Meat Sector Conference political debate by the key candidates refrained from sharp partisan positions, offered considered positions to generally difficult issues, leaving the audience unsatisfied for the silver bullets they sought

15th Aug 23, 12:02pm

by Allan Barber

Full credit to trade negotiators

Allan Barber likes the progress NZ has made with a broad set of trade deals. The challenge now is to avoid the pesky non-tariff barriers countries raise

1st Aug 23, 12:48pm

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber likes the progress NZ has made with a broad set of trade deals. The challenge now is to avoid the pesky non-tariff barriers countries raise

An environmental and conservation success story

Allan Barber highlights the long term project by the Forest Bridge Trust to restore the biodiversity from the Kaipara Harbour in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, across North Auckland

18th Jul 23, 1:31pm

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber highlights the long term project by the Forest Bridge Trust to restore the biodiversity from the Kaipara Harbour in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, across North Auckland

Motorway open at long last

Allan Barber welcomes the safer faster extension of Auckland's northern motorway into Northland and calls for a speeded up process to get it all the way to Whangarei

6th Jul 23, 9:36am

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber welcomes the safer faster extension of Auckland's northern motorway into Northland and calls for a speeded up process to get it all the way to Whangarei

Recovery starts in the Kaipara

Allan Barber finds that farmers in the Kaipara Hills and neighbouring areas are getting on with the recovery process, although much of the land will take years to repair

22nd Jun 23, 1:00pm

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber finds that farmers in the Kaipara Hills and neighbouring areas are getting on with the recovery process, although much of the land will take years to repair

Red meat not as bad for health or climate as claimed

Allan Barber reports that in key markets, demand for fake meat is sharply lower while demand for the real thing is rising. The climate impacts of red meat farming are getting better understood too

7th Jun 23, 10:36am

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber reports that in key markets, demand for fake meat is sharply lower while demand for the real thing is rising. The climate impacts of red meat farming are getting better understood too

ANZCO completes trifecta for meat exporters

Allan Barber reports that the red meat sector sees favourable market conditions into the foreseeable future. The processor exporters are well structured to take advantage

23rd May 23, 12:38pm

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber reports that the red meat sector sees favourable market conditions into the foreseeable future. The processor exporters are well structured to take advantage

Agriculture policy alternatives heating up

Allan Barber says the risk for agricultural sector voters is to resist action in the expectation a change of government will let them off the hook - which is a far from a guaranteed outcome

11th May 23, 10:35am

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber says the risk for agricultural sector voters is to resist action in the expectation a change of government will let them off the hook - which is a far from a guaranteed outcome

Silver Fern Farms exceeds expectations

Allan Barber says the predicted benefit of the major Chinese investment in Silver Fern Farms, strongly resisted at the time by a minority of supplier shareholders, has now become crystal clear

26th Apr 23, 8:39am

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber says the predicted benefit of the major Chinese investment in Silver Fern Farms, strongly resisted at the time by a minority of supplier shareholders, has now become crystal clear

Farmers face the stress of uncertainty

In the run-up to the election, farmer groups are pressing for a pause to work out which bits of the legislative rush are flawed or in need of more thought

11th Apr 23, 10:43am

by Allan Barber

In the run-up to the election, farmer groups are pressing for a pause to work out which bits of the legislative rush are flawed or in need of more thought

Meat processors provide support

The interdependence of livestock farmers and meat processors has been on full display following the cyclone damage, a time when loyalty can be rewarded in many important ways

28th Mar 23, 10:23am

by Allan Barber

The interdependence of livestock farmers and meat processors has been on full display following the cyclone damage, a time when loyalty can be rewarded in many important ways

Drone shot from above Te Houhanga Marae looking to Kaihu River

Kaipara farms suffer huge damage but attract less awareness

Allan Barber surveys farmers in areas of lower Northland who have suffered horrific stock, infrastructure and land damage. Rural isolation in the area has been partly because their roading infrastructure has been left to deteriorate

16th Mar 23, 1:52pm

by Allan Barber

Consensus necessary to sort out the mess

Allan Barber calls for a 'coalition cabinet' to deal with the sheer scale of the weather disasters that effectively put us on a 'war footing'

28th Feb 23, 12:34pm

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber calls for a 'coalition cabinet' to deal with the sheer scale of the weather disasters that effectively put us on a 'war footing'

NZ Young Farmers a vibrant organisation

Some older farmers may be grumpy and cynical about their lot, but young farmers exhibit the opposite outlook, and have a growing and active organisation supporting them

8th Feb 23, 9:44am

by Allan Barber

Some older farmers may be grumpy and cynical about their lot, but young farmers exhibit the opposite outlook, and have a growing and active organisation supporting them

New Year holds out hope for peace

Allan Barber sees most rural organisations responding favourably to the compromises the Government conceded on emissions pricing, accepting more HWEN negotiated positions

18th Jan 23, 9:22am

by Allan Barber

Allan Barber sees most rural organisations responding favourably to the compromises the Government conceded on emissions pricing, accepting more HWEN negotiated positions

Alliance result confirms meat industry’s good year

The 2022 meat season was a good one for the whole industry with farmer suppliers receiving substantial loyalty rewards. But 2023 will bring fewer opportunities for meat marketing, which means suppliers won’t receive as much for their livestock

6th Dec 22, 11:58am

by Allan Barber

Sad communications failure on emissions pricing

'Communication miscues' and rigid ideologies are causing farmers to disengage from the climate mitigation process, frustrating some industry leaders

24th Nov 22, 10:10am

by Allan Barber

'Communication miscues' and rigid ideologies are causing farmers to disengage from the climate mitigation process, frustrating some industry leaders

Our climate policy confused and flawed

[updated]

Macey and Frame argue we should do what other countries have done and build climate policy from the bottom up by recognising the capabilities and constraints we already have instead of designing a theoretically ideal policy from the top down

1st Nov 22, 1:21pm

by Allan Barber