Dead in the water
OPINION: In a victory for common sense over virtue signalling, David Parker's National Policy Statement (NPS) work on freshwater is now dead in the water.
Your old mate was interested to see Trade Minister David Parker recently hailing the success of the revamped TPP trade deal.
According to Parker, the deal is “already delivering benefits for New Zealand”. Benefits for the ag sector include a reduction in the tariff on our beef into Japan, an increase in NZ butter exports to Canada and a doubling of our cheese exports to Mexico – in the month after the agreement came into force in January 2018.
This is all good stuff. However, the Hound wants to know if this David Parker now skiting about the success of the TPP is the same man who was marching in the streets in 2015 scare-mongering about the evils of the deal? While your old mate reckons it is good to see that Parker has had a change of heart, others might be less charitable and call him nothing but a hypocrite.
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.
Philip and Lyneyre Hooper of the Hoopman Family Trust have tonight been named the Taranaki Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.

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