Arable advocacy?
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: Following Beef + Lamb NZ's rather testy annual meeting - and the ousting of former chair Andrew Morrison - the organisation decided to go on a charm offensive in an effort to get farmers back onside.
It has run a number of farmer meetings around the country to get feedback on key issues - including the widely unpopular HWEN.
However, B+LNZ's new 'open and transparent' mode appears to be about as murky as Michael Wood's share portfolio, with media banned from attending the meetings.
B+LNZ claims banning media from the meetings would encourage farmers to be more 'open' about their concerns.
However, as one appalled farmer told yours truly, the ban made B+LNZ "more like the Freemasons by the day".
He believes the reason media attendance was thwarted was because it would have recorded and reported the real discussion.
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.
Meat Industry Association (MIA) independent chair Nathan Guy says getting meat processors involved has been a shot in the arm for the sector's key marketing initiative into China, Taste Pure Nature.
Listed carpet manufacturer, Bremworth is undertaking a $6 million expansion at its Napier plant more than two years after the site was heavily damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Federated Farmers is vowing to keep the big banks accountable for their actions and to continue pushing for meaningful change in the rural lending sector.