On the go
OPINION: After hopping from one event to another at Fieldays, Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard would have been hoping for a rest.
ACT MP Andrew Hoggard may no longer be hands-on every day at his dairy farm at Kiwitea in the Manawatu, but when Parliament is sitting he still gets up at 5am and checks the messages that have come in from the dairy shed at his property.
While he's based in Wellington for much of the week as the Associate Minister for Agriculture, Hoggard is very much in touch with what's going on in heartland NZ and in particular on his family farm. He employs two herd managers and two staff for the day-to-day work while his wife Audra, in his words, "oversees everything".
"While I have put a lot of what's needed to be done down in writing, some of the information is still in my head, so I get the occasional call asking what switch to turn on," he says.
The transition from farmer and farming leader to politician has not been too hard, says Hoggard. He says his years at Federated Farmers, including a stint as president, means he was aware of some of the protocols and issues that awaited him as a politician. But he adds that understanding all the machinations and rules is something he is still a novice at and he's busy reading a vey big book which explains all this.
"There are some little quirks such as when Parliament is sitting, you can't leave the precincts of the buildings until 10pm when the normal day concludes," he says.
When Parliament is sitting, Hoggard is in Wellington from Monday to Thursday and usually starts work at around 7.30am. Monday, which is not a sitting day is a day for him to catch up on a lot of matters and attend meetings.
While many people have his phone number from his days at Feds, Hoggard says no one has abused this privilege and pestered him. He says he still welcomes having a dialogue with people but says they must realise that he can't necessarily give them everything they want.
Newly elected Federated Farmers meat and wool group chair Richard Dawkins says he will continue the great work done his predecessor Toby Williams.
Hosted by ginger dynamo Te Radar, the Fieldays Innovation Award Winners Event put the spotlight on the agricultural industry's most promising ideas.
According to DairyNZ's latest Econ Tracker update, there has been a rise in the forecast breakeven milk price for the 2025/26 season.
Despite the rain and a liberal coating of mud, engines roared, and the 50th Fieldays Tractor Pull Competition drew crowds of spectators across the four days of the annual event.
Nationwide rural wellbeing programme, Farmstrong recently celebrated its tenth birthday at Fieldays with an event attended by ambassador Sam Whitelock, Farmers Mutual Group (FMG), Farmstrong partners, and government Ministers.
Six industry organisations, including DairyNZ and the Dairy Companies Association (DCANZ) have signed an agreement with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to prepare the country for a potential foot and mouth outbreak.
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