BNZ Launches First Farm Funding Boost Scheme
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ)will expand its First Farm support with a new funding boost designed to help more farmers and growers take their next step into farm ownership.
OPINION: Noted economist and self-promoter Cameron Bagrie took one look at KPMG's recently released Financial Institutions Performance Survey on banks and zeroes in one key number that suggests banks are so risk averse in this country that they are probably stifling growth and innovation.
That number is 0.08%, the ratio of impaired asset expense to average gross loans and advances.
Bagrie says this is incredible considering the economy is supposed to have experienced the worst economic climate since the global financial crisis.
"What risk have banks been taking?" he asks.
The low impairment charges and lift in banks' profitability tells a fundamentally different story relative to the economy's performance.
"We are not going to get an appetite to take risk in this economy - which is desperately needed - if the banking sector is not on board taking risk."
A central Canterbury business which turns malting barley into a key ingredient in beer making has celebrated its 100% New Zealand-grown status with a special event.
A farm shed solution to a long-standing safety problem has captured the public’s vote in the Fieldays Innovation Awards with AWS, with Waikato dairy farmer Warren Storey’s invention The PostMate, winning the 2026 Fieldays Innovation Awards People’s Choice Award, supported by KingSt. Advertising.
OPINION: The latest update from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) on the state of NZ's primary sector paints a positive picturee about its performance over the past 12 months.
The recently signed free trade agreement with India is an invitation to strengthen relationships between the New Zealand and Indian strong wool industries, says Wool Impact chief executive Andy Caughey.
Strengthening the voice of vegetable growers on "big ticket items" will be the immediate focus of newly formed New Zealand Vegetable Council (NZVeg), says inaugural chair Alison Stewart.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the red meat sector is doing an excellent job promoting our pasture-fed system around the globe.
OPINION: Reckless action by Greenpeace in 2024 forced Fonterra to shut down a drying plant for four hours, costing the co-op…
OPINION: The global crusade against fossil fuel is gaining momentum in some regions.