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OPINION: Spare a thought for the arable farmer, squeezed on one side by soft global prices and on the other by limits on further yield increases.
Profitability issues facing arable farmers are the same across the world, says NZ Special Agricultural Trade Envoy Hamish Marr, an arable farmer himself.
The arable industry is facing "the perfect storm", the main issue being gross margin.
"There is simply not enough money being generated."
Yield has the biggest positive influence on cost of production and this needs to increase to produce more on less land. Hence some growers are considering dairy, hort or sheep as alternatives.
He also reckons the sector needs better advocacy in Wellington: "Onions NZ have a $200 million export market and have several people in Wellington, and they brief me before trade delegations. No one rings me from arable."
OPINION: The huge success of former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson's new TV show, Clarkson's Farm, and the boost it has given the image of farming in the UK, has prompted one scribe to wonder aloud who could fill a similar role here in NZ.
OPINION: Labour leader Chris 'Chippy' Hipkins is carrying on the world-class gaslighting of the nation that he and his cohorts started after their disastrous Covid response; now trying to undermine the Covid inquiry to protect his own backside.
OPINION: Forget about the fabled 'rural-urban' divide, the real fault-line in farming might actually be the divide between grass-roots farmers and the industry corporates who claim to be 'speaking on behalf of farmers'.
Profitability issues facing arable farmers are the same across the world, says New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr.
OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the job description of PR is to grease the wheels and ensure clients get good media coverage.
OPINION: Climate change is shaping up to be one of the major issues at next year's general election.
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) and the Government will provide support to growers in the Nelson-Tasman region as they recover from a second round of severe flooding in two weeks.
Rural supply business PGG Wrightson Ltd has bought animal health products manufacturer Nexan Group for $20 million.
While Donald Trump seems to deliver a new tariff every few days, there seems to be an endless stream of leaders heading to the White House to negotiate reciprocal deals.
The challenges of high-performance sport and farming are not as dissimilar as they may first appear.
HortNZ's CEO, Kate Scott says they are starting to see the substantial cumulative effects on their members of the two disastrous flood events in the Nelson Tasman region.
