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OPINION: The Hound notes that in all the media hoo-ha over outgoing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her replacement by a Richie Cunningham from Happy Days look-alike, news that another quitter was back went under the radar.
At the same time, when Ardern was tearfully throwin in the towel, National leader Chris Luxon announced that Todd Muller would be the party's new agriculture spokesman.
Muller was previously the Nats' ag spokesman before he knifed former leader Simon Bridges in 2020 and then quit 51 days later - earning him the rather cutting nickname 'Puddle' because he completely melted when the pressure came on.
Farmers will be keen to see what Muller 2.0 does in regards to issues like methane taxation.
Let's hope he is up to the job this time and has enough backbone and steel to steer the ship in the right direction!
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: 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'.
There's been widespread support from the primary sector for the Government's move to put the brakes on local authorities to do any more work on planning changes ahead of major changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA).
Rural health advocates say the Government's decision to establish a new medical school at the University of Waikato augurs well for the rural sector.
People affected by the recent two severe flood events in the Tasman district are weary and exhausted trying to deal with the devastation on their farms and orchards, according to the head of the Rural Support Trust (RST) in the region.
New Zealand milk production is off to a strong start, with the first month of the 2025/26 dairy season recording a whopping 17.8% jump in milk production, compared to the previous season.
With adverse weather set to rain down on the Top of the South, the Bay of Plenty and parts of Northland, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says farmers, foresters, and growers need to prepare for possible challenges.
Keep up with innovation and e-commerce in China or risk losing market share. That was the message delivered at the China Business Summit in Auckland this month.
OPINION: Your old mate hears that at a recent China Business Summit, PM Christopher Luxon delivered a none-too-subtle "could try…
OPINION: Bayer Crop Science closing its Hastings research site could be the tip of the iceberg.
