• Non-tariff barriers costing NZ exporters more than nine billion dollars annually

• Cool Beef programme launches to develop feed-efficient cattle breeding tools

• Southland dairy farmer launches free grocery price comparison app

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Non-tariff barriers costing NZ exporters more than nine billion dollars annually

New Zealand exporters are facing more than nine billion dollars a year in costs from non-tariff barriers, with new figures showing eighty-three percent of exports are affected and products face an average of nine separate obstacles across their markets.

ExportNZ executive director Joshua Tan says the barriers have become one of the biggest constraints on export growth — even as free trade agreements continue to reduce traditional tariffs. He says New Zealand businesses already face the disadvantage of distance and limited scale, and can't afford to be hamstrung by regulatory requirements that often shift without warning.

Non-tariff barriers include certification requirements, technical standards, labelling rules and customs processes. Even a single issue can make an otherwise viable market commercially unworkable, particularly for smaller exporters.

ExportNZ's Grow Locally, Compete Globally report calls for fourteen actions including a national export readiness programme, faster paperless trade systems and better coordination between government and exporters.     

Cool Beef programme launches to develop feed-efficient cattle breeding tools

A new four-year research programme aimed at developing breeding tools for more feed-efficient beef cattle has launched at Te Mania Angus in North Canterbury.

The Cool Beef programme, led by Beef and Lamb New Zealand and funded by the Ag Emissions Centre, will measure at least two-thousand beef cattle for both methane emissions and feed intake over the next four years, with a further one-thousand measurements collected from cattle directly off pasture. Angus, Hereford and crossbred cattle from breeders across New Zealand will be included.

The goal is to better understand the relationship between feed efficiency, methane emissions and production traits — building the science needed to develop future estimated breeding values for these traits.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand chair Kate Acland says breeding decisions are made with the long-term performance of a herd in mind, and Cool Beef is about generating robust science so farmers who want to consider these traits in future can do so with confidence.

Southland dairy farmer launches free grocery price comparison app

A dairy farmer from the Taieri plain near Dunedin has launched a free app helping New Zealanders find the cheapest supermarket for their weekly shop — and he says people are surprised to learn a farmer is behind it.

Will Duff created CheckMyTrolley after a social media post about grocery prices received more than a hundred-thousand views, confirming his hunch that supermarket price-checking had become a part-time job for many households.

The app lets shoppers build an online list and see which supermarket is cheapest on the day. Duff says he saved a hundred-and-forty-eight dollars in one month using it himself.

CheckMyTrolley joins Grocer and Grosave in a growing field of grocery comparison tools, reflecting a cost of living environment where Consumer NZ research shows groceries have become New Zealanders' top financial concern.