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."
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.
She fears it could be ‘working’, which is against the law.
This must rank as one of the most stupid, incomprehensible utterances of a Minister of the Crown in decades.
Kids love collecting eggs, feeding their pet lambs and rearing calves for school calf days.
This gets them away from screens, they see real life and have fun.
This mutt can hardly imagine what her parliamentary colleagues who have a rural background think.
Surely the focus should be on less trivial things like getting the economy right, hospital waiting lists down and finding more rural doctors!
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) has released its 2026 election manifesto, outlining priorities to support the sector’s growth, resilience, and contribution to New Zealand’s food security and export revenue.
Farmers have voted to continue the Milksolids Levy that funds DairyNZ.
Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell has resigned after eight years in the role.
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.

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