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CountryWide CONNECT is a daily rural video and audio livestreamed show broadcast from 11am – 1pm Monday-Friday hosted by respected award-winning agribusiness broadcasters, Sarah Perriam-Lampp (formerly Sarah’s Country & Rural Exchange) and Andy Thompson (formerly The Rural Round-Up). Over two hours, Sarah & Andy cover news, views, politics but most importantly in-depth technical farming advice to help improve farmers bottom lines!
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30th September 2026 // Rural News
Red meat exports hit $867m in August, up 23 percent
US beef boom boosts NZ farmgate returns
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Dutch group files EU climate complaint against NZ
Trade Minister Todd McClay is flatly denying claims New Zealand has broken its climate promises in the free trade deal with the EU, after a Dutch environmental group lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission.
McClay says New Zealand is fully compliant with the agreement, and it's not for overseas groups to dictate how the country meets its climate obligations. He says it's deeply disappointing to see New Zealand organisations and the Green Party join foreign actors in what he calls an attack on exporters and the jobs they provide.
The complaint, from group Both ENDS, points to policy changes including a weaker methane target and removing agriculture from carbon pricing.
Two-way trade with the EU was worth around twenty-one point five billion dollars last year, and the agreement allows trade benefits to be suspended if breaches persist.
Red meat exports hit $867m in August, up 23 percent
New Zealand's red meat and fifth-quarter exports reached eight hundred and sixty-seven million dollars in August, up twenty-three percent on last year, as the sector gathered in Wellington for its annual conference yesterday.
Meat Industry Association Chief Executive Nick Beeby says the lift reflects stronger returns across all major markets, with gains for both sheepmeat and beef in China.
Sheepmeat exports rose twenty percent to three hundred and nine million dollars, driven by strong growth in China and the UK. Beef exports climbed twenty-six percent to four hundred and three million dollars, with the US remaining the top market.
Beeby says the sector is generating more value from a smaller livestock base, with around ninety-seven percent of exports now high-value chilled or frozen cuts.
US beef boom boosts NZ farmgate returns
Meanwhile US beef prices have hit record highs, with the US cattle industry telling this week's Red Meat Sector Conference in Wellington that government moves to import cheaper beef are hurting local producers, not lowering prices.
National Cattlemen's Beef Association's Kent Bacus says New Zealand's trade relationship with the US remains strong, with lean New Zealand beef trimmings complementing fattier US product to meet ground beef demand.
Beef and Lamb New Zealand expects strong returns to continue, forecasting beef prices easing slightly to two thousand one hundred and forty dollars a head, while cattle processed for export are expected to rise nearly eight percent to two point six five million.
Analyst Brett Stuart told the conference booming US demand, fuelled partly by a consumer protein craze, means tighter supplies and higher prices are likely to continue into next year.Show More
