NZ farmers more optimistic as agricultural confidence rises
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
OPINION: Your old mate hears some of the recent uptick in farmer confidence has slipped since the political polls started leading a bit to the left, away from the current coalition of National, Act and NZ First.
It's way too early to panic and polls this far our are usually a 'protest' of sorts, with punters showing frustration rather than actual voting intent.
However, there are three good reasons to worry if the trend sets in: Labour, Greens and Te Pati Māori.
For instance, the policy lunacy the Greens are touting - to triple the government debt threshold to 60% of GDP, described by them as "carefully calibrated radicalism" - makes the Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern six-year lolly scramble seem fiscally conservative by comparison.
The Greens go as far as to describe fiscal restraint as "outdated 'orthodoxy' rooted in the 1980s".
Independent Waikato milk processor Tatua has set another new record for conventional farmgate milk price paid to New Zealand farmers.
OPINION: Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision recently to declare a so-called “nitrate emergency” is laughable.
An early adopter of a 10-in-7 variable milking regime, the Lincoln University Demonstration Dairy Farm (LUDF) is tweaking the system this season in search of further boosting farm performance and profitability.
The dairy sector is in a relatively stable position, with strong milk price payout forecasts continuing to offset ongoing high farm costs, according to DairyNZ.
A shameless political stunt is how Federated Farmers is describing the Canterbury Regional Council decision to declare “a nitrate emergency” on the back of its latest annual groundwater quality survey.
Fonterra has delivered a fifth straight year of record organic milk price for farmer suppliers.
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