Fieldays hold out the begging bowl
OPINION: When someone says “we don’t want a handout, we need a hand up” it usually means they have both palms out and they want your money.
OPINION: Once upon a time the Fieldays were for real farmers, salt of the earth people who thrived on hard yakka.
There were rural 'games' in the form of the tractor pull but the organisers never went the way of the Irish and incorporated ploughing into the event. In the early days the sites were very much rural but over the years this has changed.
Now, the cry of the urbanites and life sentence block owners has been answered with the news this year there'll be lawn mower racing.
Is this the start of an era which will see the return of sack races - the perfect event for the 'city suit types' to get their designer gear tucked into a dirty sack?
What about egg and spoon races, three-legged races and so on? Maybe guess how many jellybeans in the jar. For the hardy rural types, lawnmower racing and what might follow seems a far cry from the original concept of field days. The times are a changin'!
Former Fonterra executive Alex Turnbull has been appointed CEO to lead all five Yili Oceania Business Division companies in New Zealand.
Fonterra executive René Dedoncker is leaving the co-operative later this year to lead Australian agribusiness Elders.
Alliance Group and the Southland Stags rugby team have joined forces in a partnership that will see the the meat co-operative's farmgate brand feature on players' team kits and replica jerseys.
Fonterra's plan to expand its organic programme to the South Island is being well received by farmers, the co-op says.
Voting has started for the renewal of DairyNZ's milksolids levy.
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