OPINION: The recent detection of Avian Influenza (AI), a low pathogenicity strain H7N6, at a free-range poultry farm in Otago has the agri sector focused on biosecurity. While the situation is cause for concern, the emphasis is on not panicking but remaining vigilant. The key message? Biosecurity is everyone’s responsibility.
OPINION: I trust all is well at your place. It's obvious the Christmas season is upon us, as I sit at my keyboard today. I'm looking forward to a bit of a breather and catching up with friends and family again.
OPINION: In two weeks we'll bid farewell to 2024. Dubbed by some as the toughest season in a generation, many farmers would be happy to put the year behind them.
OPINION: Before we all let The Green Party have at it with their 'bold' emissions reduction plan, the Hound thought it wise to run the numbers through the old Casio.
OPINION: The Feds' latest banking survey shows that bankers are even less popular with farmers than they used to be, despite falling interest rates, and the report still paints a damning picture of rural lending.
OPINION: Judith Collins, Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, has upset the more woke members of the science community by announcing a regulation change to narrow the scope of the $83.5 million/year Marsden Fund.
OPINION: Kainga Ora's decision to categorically rule out use of woollen carpets in social housing is a total slap in the face for struggling Kiwi sheep farmers.
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay spoke at the Federated Farmers 'Restoring Farmer Confidence' tour meeting at Mystery Creek, Hamilton last month. Here's what he said:
OPINION: It could be cod on your cornflakes and sardines in your smoothie if food innovators in Indonesia have their way.
OPINION: A new study, published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, adds to some existing evidence about a simple way to cut emissions dramatically - seaweed.
OPINION: Still on Bovaer, a wave of misinformation is circulating online wrongly linking Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to the feed additive.
OPINION: One of the world’s largest dairy co-operatives has come under fire for embracing a new methane-reducing additive fed to cows. The claims, made on social media, says the use of a feed additive by Arla Foods farmers could ‘contaminate’ milk and allegedly cause cancer.
OPINION: Soil is one of the most valuable assets that a farmer has. It is our collective responsibility to make use of soils without damaging either the soil or any other part of our environment, protecting them for our own use and use by future generations.
OPINION: If you have kept your finger on the emissions pulse, none of the below information will be a surprise to you. However, if you are a farmer that has not been following New Zealand’s ruminant methane issue then you may be in for a nasty shock.
OPINION: Personal recommendations often appearing as testimonials, are not the same thing as scientific research.
OPINION: Silver Fern Farms is at a crossroads.
OPINION: Last week around 400 farmers turned up at Mystery Creek to hear Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speak as part of Federated Farmers’ ‘The Restoring Farmer Confidence Tour’.
OPINION: One of the strongest arguments for Act’s Treaty Principles Bill is probably its opponents’ total inability to raise a calm, cogent retort to it, other than intimidation and shouting the other side into silence.
OPINION: Landcorp is putting a brave face on its latest result, highlighting its progress on KPIs like climate change and gender pay gaps.
OPINION: The Hound awaits with baited breath Nicola Shadbolt's Methane Review Panel's findings this month on whether farmers will continue to be marched to the gallows by legislated methane reduction targets.
OPINION: The Hound hears that a slickly choreographed Silver Fern Farms roadshow went astray recently when faced with fired up farmer feedback in Kurow.
OPINION: Over the last two weeks we have seen a Bill pass through the house that removes the ETS backstop from agriculture emissions, and once again we heard some strange logic being presented.
At Fonterra's recent annual meeting in New Plymouth, chair Peter McBride spoke on the co-op's changing global operating context and how to manage risk. Here's some of what he said.
OPINION: What a difference a year can make.
OPINION: Before we all let The Green Party have at it with their 'bold' emissions reduction plan, the Hound thought…
OPINION: The Feds' latest banking survey shows that bankers are even less popular with farmers than they used to be,…
