McRae Wins Southern South Island B+LNZ Director Vote
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.
OPINION: Your canine crusader was impressed to see that Beef + Lamb levypayers gave their farmer organisation a strong message at last month's annual meeting when they rejected the board's move for a big jump in director fees.
Farmers were so enraged by the move that they not only rejected the fee hike, but also voted out one director and just re-elected the other incumbent by a very slim margin.
However, despite all of this, BLNZ chair Andrew Morrison still had the chutzpah to say that the board "stood by its decision" to propose the big increase in director fees.
This old mate wonders if Morrison's off-farm life as a company director - as he is also a director of fertiliser co-op Ballance - and the $175,000-plus he pulls in annual remuneration between BLNZ and Ballance alone is putting him out-of-touch with the economic realities that farmers are currently facing?
OPINION: Political parties in New Zealand have a long history of supporting free trade agreements together.
New Zealand's high country farmers could soon gain greater flexibility to diversify their land use as the new Crown Land Legislation Amendment Bill is introduced to Parliament.
New Zealand farming history needs to be celebrated, says the New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards (NZCFSA) national coordinator, Anne Barnett.
Great weather, a large turnout and positive feedback.
Bark and ambrosia beetles could play an unexpected role in New Zealand's ecosystem, acting as tiny taxis for fungi.
New Zealand’s reliance on imported urea could soon be a thing of the past.

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