Strong turnout for game bird season opening
The 2025 game bird season is underway with Hawke’s Bay and Southland reporting the ideal weather conditions for hunters – rain and wind.
An independent review of Fish & Game will provide an “organisational health check”, according to the Government.
This statutory agency is responsible for managing most of New Zealand’s game bird hunting and freshwater fishing.
“The laws governing Fish & Game were enacted some 30 years ago. An organisational health check is timely to make sure Fish and Game’s governance and organisational arrangements are fit for purpose today,” says Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage.
Details have now been released of a targeted ministerial review of the governance of Fish and Game New Zealand and regional Fish and Game councils.
Two independent experts, former Law Commission member and former Secretary for Justice Belinda Clark and former Environment Court commissioner John Mills have been appointed to undertake the review.
New Zealand Fish and Game Council Chair Paul Shortis says the statutory agency is welcoming the review.
"Fish & Game was established in 1990 and continues a proud tradition of managing sports fish and game birds on behalf of all New Zealanders," says Shortis.
"This review offers the chance to reflect on thirty years of Fish & Game’s work and to ensure we are best placed to maximise the opportunities for game bird hunters and freshwater anglers in the coming years."
It is anticipated that the review panel will produce a report by the end of 2020.
Further information on the review is available here.
Holstein Friesian excellence was front and centre at the 2025 Holstein Friesian NZ (HFNZ) Awards, held recently in Invercargill.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
This past week has seen another round of negotiations between India and New Zealand to produce a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
The Infrastructure Commission has endorsed a plan by Chorus to expand fibre broadband to 95% of New Zealand much to the delight of rural women.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.