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.
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The Greens go as far as to describe fiscal restraint as "outdated 'orthodoxy' rooted in the 1980s".
Potatoes New Zealand has congratulated Peter Reynolds of TA Reynolds Ltd in Pukekohe on being awarded the Horticulture New Zealand Bledisloe Cup, recognising a lifetime of service and contribution to New Zealand horticulture.
Signing up to a benchmarking tool is not about competition, but about improving collectively, says Ximena Puig and Alvaro Luzardo who are 50-50 sharemilkers at a 164-hectare (effective) dairy farm in Eketāhuna in the Lower North Island.
A leading British farming politician says he's impressed with the positive attitude of New Zealand farmers that he met during his recent trip here.
OPINION: With 10,500 dairy farms, New Zealand continues to punch above its weight around the world.
The Southern Dairy Hub (SDH), which runs a demonstration farm for South Island farmers, has a new general manager.
Esther Guy-Meakin has been announced as the new chief executive of the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).

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.…