True Reflection?
A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.
Your old mate sympathises with the plight of the country’s dairy farmers and how the falling payout is impacting their financial stability.
However, the Hound suggests that while moves by Fonterra to save money and help returns to its shareholders is for the most part a good thing, some of its austerity measures border on penny-pinching stupidity. One example is the way it treats farmer members of the Shareholders Council. Despite the fact these councillors regularly fly from all parts of the country to meet at Fonterra HQ in Auckland, the dairy co-op does not stump up for Koru club membership. And when the councillors arrive at Auckland airport they then have to take a bus into town for their meetings at Fonterra’s head office ‘gumboot castle’!
Oamaru-based livestock handling specialist Te Pari has bought Combi Clamp, the New Zealand manufacturer of Combi Clamp manual sheep handlers.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has admitted that a scheme bringing workers from Pacific nations to work on orchards has become too hard to navigate but says changes are coming.
A new app designed in New Zealand aims to help sheep, beef and deer farmers capture, analyse and use body condition score data more effectively.
Canterbury farmer Andy Macfarlane has been appointed to the board of AgriZeroNZ, the public-private partnership designed to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reduction tools for New Zealand farmers.
For over 50 years Mel Ewers has been supporting the apple sector navigate through compliance and quality assurance issues.
The apple sector is enjoying a bumper harvest season.

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any…
OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.…