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OPINION: Your old mate reckons the new Government has a big turnaround job in getting farmers feeling confident again.
According to the latest Rabobank Rural Confidence survey - completed late last month - farmer confidence now sits at -72% and is the lowest in the 20-year history of the survey, eclipsing the previous record low of -71% recorded in quarter four last year.
The bank says a swathe of farmer concerns contributed to record low sentiment, with lower commodity prices now emerging as another source of farmer anxiety.
With feelings like this in the rural community it is no wonder so many rural and provincial seats turned blue at the recent election.
It is obvious the electoral demise of outgoing Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor and his former cabinet colleagues - such as David Parker and James Shaw - will not be mourned by rural NZ.
OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.
OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."
OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.
OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling on a heroic scale - producing no environmental benefit whatsoever - the politician vowing to make that industry whole again, Shane Jones, is not above a bit of virtue signalling of his own.
OPINION: Your old mate's ear has been chewed off recently by farmers voicing their displeasure with the National Party, particularly relating to how they're treating their farmer base.
Fonterra Edendale has been recognised with the Mars Dairy Supplier Quality Award for the top performing supplier sites in the global food company's dairy supply chain.
Sheep milk processor Maui Milk has achieved grass-fed certification of milk supply against the AsureQuality Grass-Fed Scheme.
OPINION: What goes up must come down. So, global dairy prices retreating from lofty heights in recent months wouldn’t come as a surprise to many farmers.
Fonterra directors and councillors are in for a pay rise next month.
Federated Farmers says it is cautiously welcoming signals from the Government that a major shake-up of local government is on its way.
Ashburton cropping and dairy farmer Matthew Paton has been elected to the board of rural services company, Ruralco.
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OPINION: The Hound reckons a big problem with focusing too much on the wrong goal - reducing livestock emissions at…
