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National's Todd McClay is the new Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Trade.
The new Coalition Government unveiled today will have several farmers holding associate minister roles outside Cabinet.
As expected, National’s Todd McClay is the new Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Trade. He will have a team of farmers assisting him in associate roles.
Former Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard is the Associate Minister of Agriculture overseeing animal welfare and skills and Associate Minister for the Environment. The first-term MP is also Minister for Biosecurity and Food Safety but will sit outside Cabinet.
Otago sheep and beef farmer Mark Patterson, NZ First, is Minister for Rural Communities and Associate Minister of Agriculture and will also sit outside Cabinet.
National’s Nicola Grigg, who was raised on the family farm at Mt Somers, is Associate Minister of Agriculture with a focus on horticulture. She’s also outside Cabinet and will be Minister of State for Trade and Minister for Women.
The three-part Coalition – made up of National, NZ First and ACT – announced their ministerial list today. Farmers will be watching with interest how the new Government deals with climate change on tackling on-farm emissions.
Prime Minister-elect Christpher Luxon says all the three leaders are committed to climate change.
"It is a major focus for us," he says.
He says the government is determined to get its "emission profiles" down but it will be different from the way the previous government did it.
The Government is funding a feasibility study to investigate what would be required for a successful farmer-led purchase of the McCain Foods' vegetable processing site in Hastings.
OPINION: For thousands of Southland farmers, this week would have tipped them into the non-compliant category when it comes to following regional freshwater plan rules. But the Government has stepped in to give them the clarity they deserve.
The stark realities of the world trade that New Zealand is having to face have been revealed by Trade Minister Todd McClay.
New Zealand and the European Union are closer than ever.
Southland farmers staring down a May deadline to submit freshwater farm plans under current regional plan rules have been given an 18-month reprieve by the Government.
The chief executive of Apples and Pears New Zealand, Danielle Adsett, says fruit quality this year is phenomenal and the sector is hitting crop estimates, which is great for growers.
Centre right parties are backing policy positions pushed by three farmer lobby groups ahead of the general election.
Waikato agribusiness leader Geoff Maber has been appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours.
Potatoes New Zealand and Garden to Table have partnered together to celebrate a versatile vegetable and the people behind it.
Mainland Poultry has confirmed new ownership of its vertically integrated agribusiness with Pacific Equity Partners Gateway (PEP Gateway) now joining current shareholders Navis.
The recently published State of the Industry -Tractors and Machinery 2025 from the Australian Tractor and Machinery Association (TMA), the equivalent of New Zealand’s TAMA, gives an interesting perspective of the industry.
OPINION: The old saying 'a new broom sweeps clean' doesn't always hold up, if you ask the Hound.
OPINION: This old mutt went to school to eat his lunch, but still knows the future of the country, and…
