5 Oct 2011

Mixed messages at export forum

6:40 am on 5 October 2011

An agricultural and horticultural science forum in Wellington has heard mixed messages about export commodities.

An agricultural and horticultural science forum in Wellington has heard mixed messages about export commodities.

Former Minister of Agriculture Jim Anderton said the New Zealand economy is too reliant on low-value commodities like milk and wool, and more investment is needed to boost their value before they leave the country.

He said some companies are already extracting ingredients from milk, which are then exported for thousands of dollars a tonne, but he says that must be stepped up.

''So we need to move our focus to owning high value intellectual property and (export) High qualtity clothes insterad of wool bales,'' he said.

Federated Farmers said New Zealand has the lowest investment in science among OECD countries, at 1.2% of GDP.

Vice president William Rolleston said that should be more than doubled to 3% to provide the funding to increase the value of farm products, while reducing their environmental footprint.

But Royal Society of New Zealand president Garth Carnaby said New Zealand is still well-placed to provide low-value commodities to the increasing number of markets demanding them.

He said the commodity boom of the past five years was unexpected, and he is optimistic it will continue to keep primary export prices high for some time.