NZ arable farmers face global profitability pressures
Profitability issues facing arable farmers are the same across the world, says New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr.
The Hound understands the recent crowing by Massey and Lincoln universities about the ‘huge growth’ in ag student numbers this year needs to be put into perspective.
Your old mate is delighted to note the rise in numbers of young people wanting to further their studies in the ag field, because the wider sector needs well-educated new blood for the nation’s economy to keep on expanding. However, a closer inspection of the actual numbers shows that while there has been a rise in the number entering ag courses in the last couple of years, they are still below the peak numbers of only a few years ago. This old mate hopes these numbers keep growing, but urges the Massey and Lincoln publicity mongers to lay off the ‘lies, damn lies and statistics’ tactics.
OPINION: Nothing it seems can be done in the short term to get Donald Trump to change his mind about removing the unfair 15% tariffs that he’s imposed on New Zealand exports to the US.
A charity that connects young people with farmers for two years of on-farm training is reporting 150 student applications for its 2026 intake.
It’s been a long time coming, but the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final is returning to the Naki for Season 58.
The Government has appointed three new members to the board of state farmer Landcorp Farming Ltd, trading as Pāmu.
North Canterbury pig farmer Steve Sterne has been honoured with NZ Pork's Outstanding Contribution Award, recognising his 27 years of dedication to excellence in the sector.
Hawke's Bay's loss is Canterbury's gain with the opening of a new state-of-the-art soil testing laboratory for the Ravensdown subsidiary ARL (Analytical Research Laboratories) at Rolleston.
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