Risky business
OPINION: In the same way that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, economists sometimes get it right.
OPINION: Farmers in the Rodney district, nearly an hour north of Auckland, are reaching breaking point having to deal with the ‘super-city’ council, who some farmers regard as out of touch with the realities of rural life and overly officious.
“The rules and costs imposed on us for the most basic developments are prohibitive,” one Wellsford farmer told the canine crusader. “They’re unnecessary and arbitrary rules, all the extra costs sheet back to the landowners and it’s just not worth trying to develop anything.”
There were plenty of warnings that bringing a rural district under the super-city umbrella wouldn’t work.
In 2009, then-Rodney Mayor Penny Webster was unhappy with the boundary and representation changes.
She said Rodney would be poorly represented on the proposed council, with only one or two councillors. Time to secede?
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
OPINION: The world is bracing for a trade war between the two biggest economies.