Election 2026: How Parties Would Lift the Arable Sector
As part of its Election 2026 coverage, Rural News asked political parties how they would help pull the arable sector out of the doldrums. Here's what they said:
There is a limit to what farmers can do to improve security on their farms, says Federated Farmers Dairy chairman Andrew Hoggard.
His comments follow the publicity surrounding the news of a 1080 threat to infant milk formula. At a news conference it was suggested farmers should secure their milk supply.
But Hoggard points out that farmers need to keep their sheds and facilities open at all times for tankers to collect their milk. Beyond installing a security camera they can do little more, he says.
“In the modern cowshed there is quite a bit of technology and kit but we have to leave everything open for tankers,” he told Dairy News.
“More and more farmers are installing security. I have tried a number of different cameras including game trail ones. The worry I have with those is that the criminal could quite easily steal it and I’d never know who the criminal was.”
Hoggard has a camera connected to his computer providing pictures of anyone entering his cow shed. Plenty of equipment is being stolen from cows sheds, an ongoing problem, he says. – Peter Burke
Three men have been sentenced in District Courts after Ministry for Primary Industries prosecutions over animal welfare, food safety and cattle tracing offences.
Fonterra’s 2026 financial year was a year of delivery, with record volumes of milk collected, processed and shipped by the co-op.
OPINION: The Government's decision to reinstate agriculture and horticultural science as a standalone subject from Year 11 is the right one.
Dairy farmers, still holding onto their Fonterra shares despite switching milk supply elsewhere or exiting the industry, now face a stricter share sell-down requirement.
Hamilton-based agritech company Aimer Farming has completed a $3 million capital raise to support its next stage of growth, including a beef farming product due to launch in 2027.
When dairy manager Miriam Lauridsen learned the farm, she was joining held weekly health and safety meetings, she initially thought that was “a bit over the top”. Experiencing that culture changed her mind.
OPINION: It seems Canterbury processor Synlait is still in the doldrums.
OPINION: Get offside with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters at your own peril.