OPINION: It's a tough pill to swallow that bird flu (avian influenza) has finally arrived in New Zealand. This is a moment many of us have hoped would never come.
OPINION: At Fieldays this year, one theme kept surfacing across the sector: global shocks are no longer something that happens “over there”. They are now translating quickly into local, farm-level impacts through increasingly complex and connected channels.
OPINION: Yep, the stories just keep on coming. I haven’t noted any sign of them drying up yet, no let-up seems to be in sight! And with the rapid advances in AI, maybe the worst is still to come.
A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.
OPINION: Alistair Carmichael raises some interesting questions about striking a balance between profitability in farming and preserving the character of rural communities.
OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves. Anyone in the primary sector will know about the clowns covering the countryside in the red tape we all have to wade through. Spare a thought then for media outfit…
OPINION: After all the criticism that Winston Peters leveled at the India/NZ FTA, it seemed just a trifle ironic to the Hound that the first NZ politician to visit India after Prime Minister Modi's visit was a member of the Ewe Zealand First party.
OPINION: The year was 2020, the month was January, and an article in this esteemed publication suggested "a new thought for the New Year - New Zealand 'Generative Agriculture'... or New-Gen, for short".
OPINION: Confidence in the wool sector is rebounding as prices hit levels not seen in more than 15 years.
OPINION: Central Hawke's Bay farmer Mark Warren recently told the Hawke's Bay Times it's time for a conversation about allowing skilled and properly equipped locals to help councils clear debris and reopen roads after severe weather events.
OPINION: With the winter months officially here, I trust all is well at your place.
OPINION: A nation that relies as heavily as NZ does on functional global shipping lanes will have to do its bit on the international security front, hence the additional $1.58b in military spend over 4 years that Dame Lynda Topp thought should have been spent on sheet music.
OPINION: The latest update from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) on the state of NZ's primary sector paints a positive picturee about its performance over the past 12 months.
OPINION: Well-known and politically very neutral RNZ DJ John Campbell may be having politically neutral kittens about the news that Fonterra lobbied the PM's office over climate change laws, but John and his definitely-not-lefty mates are really pretending that political lobbying isn't the second oldest profession and that all political…
OPINION: This one will upset the identity-politics obsessed snowflakes in Wellington.
OPINION: Humans are resilient. We are part of nature and have evolved for survival.
OPINION: While we're on the topic of lumberjacks, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has no doubt used a chainsaw hundreds of times, but your old mate reckons he would’ve still been sweating on getting it right when cutting down a pine in front of the cameras, as he did above Queenstown…
OPINION: The coalition Government’s plan to make about 9000 public servants redundant looms as a major election issue
OPINION: To a chorus of crying greenies, and not a minute too soon, the Government has moved to put the courts back in their place through proposed amendments to the Climate Change Response Act 2002, intending to limit climate litigation claims such as Smith v Fonterra, in the interests of…
OPINION: New Zealand's dairy sector has been a mainstay of this country's prosperity for generations.
OPINION: On the same day that pigs were reportedly seen airborne over the capital, a political journalist gave the PSA union a chip for being biased towards Labour – not the revelation of the year if you ask the Canine Crusader, but very rare to hear coming from a member…
OPINION: New economic modelling confirms what many of us in Hawke's Bay have long understood - getting water security right for this region is one of the most important decisions we face as a community. Not just for farmers, but for everyone who lives, works and builds a future here.
OPINION: Should I ever be asked to nominate someone I consider a true-blue, uniquely Kiwi icon entertainer from yesteryear, I would have a couple of names immediately come to mind. Yes, I would have to go for Fred Dagg and Billy T James.
OPINION: The old saying 'a new broom sweeps clean' doesn't always hold up, if you ask the Hound.
» Latest Print Issues Online
The Hound
True Reflection?
A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any…
Civil Circus!
OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.…
» Connect with Rural News
» eNewsletter
