A step too far

OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style campaign against farming, particularly dairy farmers, who he has made a career out of kicking.

OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.

"Our" business?

OPINION: One particular bone the Hound has been gnawing on for years now is how the chattering classes want it both ways when it comes to the success of NZ's dairy industry.

Struth blue!

OPINION: Our Aussie mates never miss a chance to put one over us, as seen in a recent op-ed by farm analysts 'Episode 3'.

Faking it

OPINION: Demand for red meat is booming, while it seems the heyday of plant-based protein is well past its 'best before' date.

M.I.A.

OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury.

NZ's handbrake

OPINION: Your old mate gets the sinking feeling that no matter who we vote into power in the hope they will reverse the terminal slide the country is in, there will always be a cohort of naysayers determined to hold us back.

Witchunt?

OPINION: Newsroom is running a series of articles looking into the influence of lobbying and has kicked it off with agriculture.

Wrong focus

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.

Burn the village

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."

Purist problem

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…

Drill baby, drill!

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…

Trop de Paris!

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.

NZ vs Aussie beef

OPINION: Your old mate hears that at a recent China Business Summit, PM Christopher Luxon delivered a none-too-subtle "could try harder" report card on the red meat industry regarding its exports to China - particularly when compared to Australia.

OPINION: Bayer Crop Science closing its Hastings research site could be the tip of the iceberg.

OPINION: The image of regenerative farmers as kind, cuddly progressive types took a hit when one of their own took to social media to gloat over Bayer Crop Science's decision to close its Hastings research site.

OPINION: Spare a thought for the arable farmer, squeezed on one side by soft global prices and on the other by limits on further yield increases.

OPINION: The huge success of former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson's new TV show, Clarkson's Farm, and the boost it has given the image of farming in the UK, has prompted one scribe to wonder aloud who could fill a similar role here in NZ.

OPINION: Labour leader Chris 'Chippy' Hipkins is carrying on the world-class gaslighting of the nation that he and his cohorts started after their disastrous Covid response; now trying to undermine the Covid inquiry to protect his own backside.

OPINION: Forget about the fabled 'rural-urban' divide, the real fault-line in farming might actually be the divide between grass-roots farmers and the industry corporates who claim to be 'speaking on behalf of farmers'.

OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the job description of PR is to grease the wheels and ensure clients get good media coverage.

OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left them wishing they had kept their mouth firmly closed.

OPINION: Your old mate hears some of the recent uptick in farmer confidence has slipped since the political polls started leading a bit to the left, away from the current coalition of National, Act and NZ First.

OPINION: Ther'es a reason politicians rank even lower than John Campbell in the most trusted profession surveys.

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The Hound

A step too far

OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…

Save us from SAFE

OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.

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