Westpac NZ launches community banking van in Northland
A new Westpac NZ community banking van begins making visits around Northland this week.
OPINION: A mate of the Hound's reckons Westpac agri economist Nathan Penny is dreaming with his latest reckons about on-farm inflation.
Penny claims current on-farm inflation is now sitting at aroun 13% - down from 15% at the end of last year.
However, this old mutt's mate is not sure what Penny has been smoking, because the Westpac man reckons on-farm inflation will be down to 4% by the end of this year and down to 2% by the end of 2024.
The Hound's mate suggests Penny needs to get out of Westpac's ivory tower on Auckland's Queen Street and out on the farm more often.
He reckons Penny would then find that the chances of on-farm costs falling to 4% by Christmas this year are about as likely as Westpac offering 3% mortgage rates at the same time!
While the District Field Days brought with it a welcome dose of sunshine, it also attracted a significant cohort of sitting members from the Beehive – as one might expect in an election year.
Irish Minister of State of Agriculture, Noel Grealish was in New Zealand recently for an official visit.
While not all sibling rivalries come to blows, one headline event at the recent New Zealand Rural Games held in Palmerston North certainly did, when reigning World Champion Jack Jordan was denied the opportunity of defending his world title in Europe later this year, after being beaten by his big brother’s superior axle blows, at the Stihl Timbersports Nationals.
AgriZeroNZ has invested $5.1 million in Australian company Rumin8 to accelerate development of its methane-reducing products for cattle and bring them to New Zealand.
Farmers want more direct, accurate information about both fuel and fertiliser supply.
A bull on a freight plane sounds like the start of a joke, but for Ian Bryant, it is a fond memory of days gone by.

OPINION: If you ask this old mutt, the choice at the next election isn't shaping up as a contest of…
OPINION: A mate of yours says we're long overdue for a reckoning on what value farmers really get for the…