increase font size
OPINION: Your old mate notes that Beef+Lamb NZ has very quietly decided to cut its losses and quit the lease on the North Canterbury-based hill country farm Lanercost.
"The Future Farm now sits outside our core business and while it is starting to generate a profit, it would require a lot more input and resources in the future to realise its full potential and really deliver for farmers as an extension tool," the farmer-funded levy claims.
BLNZ's 'softly-softly' decision to quit the 1,310ha property is a far cry from the exuberant and shout-from-the-roof-tops ways it announced its decision to lease the property back in 2018.
At that time, chief executive Sam McIvor told levypayer BLNZ was "putting your money where our mouth is", while chair Andrew Morrison said the organisation would be "judged on performance".
Apparently the judge's decision is in and it's a big, fat fail!
OPINION: Henry Dimbleby, author of the UK's Food Strategy, recently told the BBC: "Meat production is about 85% of our current farming use so we can afford to pull that back a bit in order to restore nature... in order to get clean energy. That is not a major sacrifice."
OPINION: For the last few weeks, we've witnessed a parade of complaints about New Zealand's school lunch program: 'It's arriving late.' 'The portions are wrong.' 'I wanted caviar.'
OPINION: You must feel a bit sorry for poor old Christopher Luxon.
OPINION: As Jim Bolger once said, "Bugger the polls!"
OPINION: Ruth Richardson, architect of the 1991 ‘Mother of all Budgets’ and the economic reforms dubbed ‘Ruthanasia’, added her two cents to the Treaty Principles Bill with a submission that essentially says it’s time to “have the sovereign authority” define the principles of the Treaty “by design” rather than continue to let them be defined “by accident” by unaccountable institutions like activists in the Courts, the Waitangi Tribunal and officialdom.
OPINION: Federated Farmers' latest farmer confidence survey results won’t surprise too many people.
The cost of producing milk in New Zealand continues to compare favourably with other exporting regions despite a lift in production costs over the past five years.
DairyNZ says potential benefits from gene technology must be carefully weighed against the risks of such technology.
Pleased, but cautious. That’s how PGG Wrightson chief executive Stephen Guerin says he’s feeling about the rural retailer’s latest financial result.
Commodity prices and interest rates play a huge role in shaping farmer confidence, but these factors are beyond their control, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre.
DairyNZ is supporting a proposed new learning model for apprenticeships and traineeships that would see training, education, and pastoral care delivered together to provide the best chance of success.
OPINION: Henry Dimbleby, author of the UK's Food Strategy, recently told the BBC: "Meat production is about 85% of our…
OPINION: For the last few weeks, we've witnessed a parade of complaints about New Zealand's school lunch program: 'It's arriving…
