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OPINION: This old mutt has been contacted by a number of members of rural insurer FMG expressing concern about the jump in director fees this year.
According to its latest annual report, the rural insurer made a profit of $59.3 million in the '20-'21 year and total director fees came to $438,000 with chair Tony Cleland pulling in an average stipend of $100k.
However, in the '21-'22 year, FMG's profit was down to $22.8 million, yet total director fees jumped to $557,000 - with the chair earning $113k.
FMG is a mutual and according to its own PR, 'it was set up in 1905 to give farmers a better deal...'
However, according to some disgruntled FMG members, the only ones who seem to be getting a better deal from the rural insurer are its well remunerated directors.
Maybe there'll be questions about this at its annual meeting later this month.
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.
New Zealand and Chile have signed a new arrangement designed to boost agricultural cooperation and drive sector success.
New DairyNZ research will help farmers mitigate the impacts of heat stress on herds in high-risk regions of the country.
Budou are being picked now in Bridge Pā, the most intense and exciting time of the year for the Greencollar team – and the harvest of the finest eating grapes is weeks earlier than expected.
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has released its latest rural property report, providing a detailed view of New Zealand’s rural real estate market for the 12 months ending December 2025.
Rural retailer Farmlands has released it's latest round of half-year results, labeling it as evidence that its five-year strategy is delivering on financial performance and better value for members.
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