Farmers Weekly Podcast

This week, Farmers Weekly senior reporter Richard Rennie examines the growing workforce challenge in ageing regions, while AgriHQ senior analyst Suz Bremner explains why strong store cattle prices aren’t quite meeting expectations. Featured guest, Agritech NZ's chief executive Brendan O’Connell, offers a different take on the tech brain drain, and Federated Farmers arable chair Chris Dillon looks at how relaxed drone rules could unlock greater farm adoption.

Agritech NZ chief executive Brendan O’Connell says reports that our tech sector is at risk of a brain drain need to be viewed with caution. He says the fact our best and brightest head offshore should be seen as a positive.

Senior reporter Richard Rennie outlines a new report that looks at demographic change in our regions, and finds that while populations are growing in some places, the age of them is rising, bringing workforce and productivity challenges.

Senior analyst Suz Bremner says store cattle prices are high and even up on last year’s results at this time of year, but expectations are higher and some are feeling a little disappointed on returns. Buyers are very cautious about the El Niño risk and that’s impacting the longer term cattle market.

Federated Farmers arable chair Chris Dillon says the Government’s plan to ease drone regulations could encourage more farmers to invest in the technology. He says costly and complex certification requirements have been a major barrier, making farmers reluctant to adopt drones despite their potential on-farm benefits.