'Regulatory Middlemen'
OPINION: Groundswell's opinion of the incumbent farm industry representatives isn't high.
OPINION: Meanwhile, speaking of Groundswell, this old mutt understands that the leaders of the rural lobby group and fringe political party Democracy NZ recently met up in a café in Gore for a clandestine catch up.
This was all before the major meltdown in the Democracy NZ political movement last month, where five of its 10 selected candidates resigned en mass.
This included Waikato candidate Steven Cranston, who was the former ag emissions spokesman for Groundswell - before he jumped on the Democracy NZ crazy wagon.
Your old mate suggests that Groundswell should steer clear of having such a close association with a fringe political outfit like Democracy NZ or they are in danger of being labelled as associating political crazies and burning off much of the goodwill it has built up in rural NZ.
Farmgate lamb prices are down by 8%, beef cattle by 4.5% and farm expenditure up by 4.2%.
Kiwifruit growers are watchful but remain optimistic as concerns around the potential effects of the El Niño weather pattern this season.
Almond hulls sourced from Australian orchards may have the potential to help New Zealand cows reduce emissions, boost milk yield and lower input costs.
Striking a balance between meeting the needs of industry to speed up approval time for products but on the other hand ensuring that risks are properly assessed.
Surprised, humbled and quite thrilled. That’s the reaction of James Allen, one of the founding partners and now chief executive of AgFirst, on being made a life member of the Institute of Rural Professionals.

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