The ups and downs of 2016 – the year in review
Another year has almost passed us by – again – and it is time for the annual review of 2016 in the primary sector as seen by the Rural News editorial team.
The Hound notes that former Meat Industry Excellence (MIE) member Mark Patterson is now trying to use the same anti-Chinese sentiment the failed group used to oppose the takeover by Yili of Westland Milk.
Patterson these days is a little-known NZ First list MP and he’s employing the same scare tactics that MIE tried and miserably failed to stop the very successful merger of Silver Fern Farms with China-based Shanghai Maling a couple of years ago.
Patterson’s claims that the sale of Westland to Yili risks NZ losing control of its biggest industry – dairy – to overseas ownership is a bit of a stretch when around 85% of the NZ industry is still controlled by the farmer owned-co-op Fonterra!
At a gala evening held at Palmerston North in March, the sporting and rural communities came together to celebrate the Ford New Zealand Rural Sports Awards.
Assessing pasture cover has just been become easier, thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) has appointed Dr Scott Champion as its new chief executive.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) has launched a powerful new tool to help commercial beef farmers select the best bulls for their farm businesses.
Air quality is a major safety issue for New Zealand, with approximately 650 deaths per year caused by cancer attributable to airborne contaminants.
Three weeks on from Bremworth’s board overhaul, the carpet maker’s chief executive Greg Smith is stepping down.
OPINION: In the same way that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, economists sometimes get it right.
OPINION: The proposed RMA reforms took a while to drop but were well signaled after the election.