Tuesday, 08 July 2025 11:23

That old chestnut

Written by  Milking It

OPINION: Just as it's healthy for cockies to get out of the shed and off the farm occasionally to get a fresh perspective, Milking It reckons some academics would benefit from spending a few days in the real world.

You can set your watch to it; when dairy farmers finally get a good farmgate price, some wonk will attack them for 'profiteering' on the domestic market because the price of their cheddar wedges goes up, Auckland uni professor Rob MacCulloch is just the latest to roll out the old socialist chestnut that farmers should sell locally at a lower price than they can get overseas.

No mention of the fact NZ dairy farms are privately owned businesses, built by hard-working risk takers; they're not communist state assets.

And when dairy farmers make a loss, the MacCullochs of the world are strangely silent.

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