Minister of Agriculture, Damien O'Connor. Photo / Supplied
Minister of Agriculture, Damien O'Connor. Photo / Supplied
Damien O'Connor has just returned from a European tour where he found part of his job was to reassure others that New Zealand's farming success was not a threat.
The Minister of Agriculture told The Country's Rowena Duncum that international leaders and farmers have expressed a fear of New Zealand"swamping the market."
"We've done such a good job selling our efficiency around Europe that they think that we're this huge producer of food", says O'Connor, "Whereas in fact the amount of food that we produce, relative to the world, is quite small ... we're not there to undermine the value of their production."
O'Connor attended the Global Research Alliance meeting in Berlin where 51 countries came together to focus on climate change issues around food production. Here, O'Connor found New Zealand also had a formidable reputation, this time for leading research on livestock emissions.
"It's a great initiative and they really appreciate what New Zealand's doing."
Also in today's interview: Damien O'Connor discusses Fonterra's Annual Results, the 125th anniversary of New Zealand woman getting the vote and gives his thoughts on keeping Tuturumuri School open.
