Biosecurity, trade deals and water storage top KPMG agribusiness priorities

Tim McCreadyNZ Herald·22 Jul, 2026 05:00 PM6 mins to readWorld-class biosecurity remains the sector’s highest priority. This year’s score (9.40 out of 10) is the highest score reported for any priority since 2018 – the year Mycoplasma bovis and Myrtle Rust pushed biosecurity to an all-time survey record of 9.62, demonstrating the enormous economic cost of a single biosecurity failure.New Zealand’s food and fibre sector could disappear tomorrow and global markets would barely notice.That was the provocation from one industry leader during this year’s KPMG Agribusiness Agenda roundtable discussions on international markets. They qualified it: while New Zealand is a relatively small cog in an enormous system, it