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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

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
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
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
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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
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
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Allan Barber reports that meat processors are assessing the changes they will need to make as forest conversions eat into their livestock supply flows
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
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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
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
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
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
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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
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
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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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
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
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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'
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
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
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
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Allan Barber sees most rural organisations responding favourably to the compromises the Government conceded on emissions pricing, accepting more HWEN negotiated positions
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
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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
'Communication miscues' and rigid ideologies are causing farmers to disengage from the climate mitigation process, frustrating some industry leaders
24th Nov 22, 10:10am
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'Communication miscues' and rigid ideologies are causing farmers to disengage from the climate mitigation process, frustrating some industry leaders
[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
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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