Strange bedfellows
OPINION: Two types of grifters have used the sale of Fonterra's consumer brands as a platform to push their own agendas - under the guise of 'caring about the country'.
OPINION: Last week's announcement by the Government to remove a decades-long ban on genetically engineered crops was generally well-received by farming and science communities.
Even the Greens and Labour are not ruling out supporting the legislation when it’s likely to be tabled in Parliament sometime next year.
But there’s one organisation, that’s still not budging – Greenpeace. The environment lobby claims that unproven genetically engineered methane inhibitors will not solve New Zealand dairy’s climate pollution problem.
NZ farmers are always looking for new technologies to help them improve their production, increase their profit, or reduce their environmental footprint, including emissions – ‘the climate crisis’. Removing the ban will help them immensely. Sadly, Greenpeace continues to see red over gene technology.
The Government is set to announce two new acts to replace the contentious Resource Management Act (RMA) with the Prime Minister hinting that consents required by farmers could reduce by 46%.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change would be “a really dumb move”.
The University of Waikato has broken ground on its new medical school building.
Undoubtedly the doyen of rural culture, always with a wry smile, our favourite ginger ninja, Te Radar, in conjunction with his wife Ruth Spencer, has recently released an enchanting, yet educational read centred around rural New Zealand in one hundred objects.
Farmers are being urged to keep on top of measures to control Cysticerus ovis - or sheep measles - following a spike in infection rates.
The avocado industry is facing an extremely challenging season with all parts of the supply chain, especially growers, being warned to prepare for any eventuality.
OPINION: Dipping global dairy prices have already resulted in Irish farmers facing a price cut from processors.
OPINION: Are the heydays of soaring global demand for butter over?