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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.
However, a mate of the Hound notes a change lately, with some spin doctors trying to operate like the Stasi, micromanaging what rural media can and can't cover.
A recent example was the NZ Farm Environment Trust - a great initiative - trying to ban rural media using cameras at their awards evening.
What is the point of inviting the newshounds along if you won't let them cover the event?
Great events like the NZET awards, and the worthy recipients, deserve maximum coverage and it'd be a crying shame if overbearing PR flacks actively discouraged rural media from attending.
OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.
OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling on a heroic scale - producing no environmental benefit whatsoever - the politician vowing to make that industry whole again, Shane Jones, is not above a bit of virtue signalling of his own.
OPINION: Your old mate's ear has been chewed off recently by farmers voicing their displeasure with the National Party, particularly relating to how they're treating their farmer base.
OPINION: Your old mate hears that at a recent China Business Summit, PM Christopher Luxon delivered a none-too-subtle "could try harder" report card on the red meat industry regarding its exports to China - particularly when compared to Australia.
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.
New Zealand avocado growers have received a major boost by securing a collective FernMark Licence for their exports.
Beef + Lamb NZ's countrywide director roadshow arrived in Feilding last week, bringing with it ongoing positivity in the sector, an overview of the work B+LNZ does on behalf of levypayers and a proposed change on how the levy would be collected in the future.
A stronger than expected outlook for dairy has prompted one bank to lift its 2025-26 season forecast milk price by 75c to $10.25/kgMS.
Chinese dairy giant Yili Group says its New Zealand operations are on track for strong revenue growth in 2025 after recording significant year-on-year growth for the first half of the year.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says the US tariff decision appears to be based on a calculation of trade deficits, with countries running a surplus with the US moved to the higher rate.
Alliance Group has announced plans to sell a 65% stake in the farmer-owned co-operative to Irish meat processor Dawn Meats Group for $250 million.
OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the…
OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling…
