Tuesday, 15 February 2022 11:30

Take note!

Written by The Hound

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OPINION: Your old mate reckons the advocates of the latest fad in NZ farming, Regenerative Ag, should take heed of what's happening in Sri Lanka right now.

That country will pay US$200m compensation to more than a million rice farmers whose crops failed under a botched scheme to establish the world's first 100% organic farming nation.

Agricultural chemicals such as fertiliser were among the imports banned last year.

These restrictions were lifted months later after farmer protests and crop failures.

About a third of Sri Lanka's agricultural land was left dormant last year because of the imported farm chemicals compounding the island's economic crisis, causing food shortages and forcing shops to ration sugar, lentils and other essentials.

Food inflation in Sri Lanka hit a record 21.5% last month with vegetables and other staples in short supply in the wake of the disastrous organic experiment.

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Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.

Anyone in the primary sector will know about the clowns covering the countryside in the red tape we all have to wade through.

Spare a thought then for media outfit Stuff who were threatened with fines up to $200,000 by a snivelling civil servant from the MoH for illustrating a quiz question with a photo of part of the cover of a 45-year-old copy Playboy.

As Stuff notes, “It wasn’t the Playboy cover which caused offence. No, it was the back page which… featured an advert for a cigarette brand”.

As Regulations Minister David Seymour notes, “The real scandal here is, well, no wonder we’ve got problems in healthcare when they’re doing the Stuff quiz during work time.”

Ewe Zealand First

OPINION: After all the criticism that Winston Peters leveled at the India/NZ FTA, it seemed just a trifle ironic to the Hound that the first NZ politician to visit India after Prime Minister Modi's visit was a member of the Ewe Zealand First party.

Inside the Moxhams' Award-Winning Organic Dairy Farm

Wayne and Ange Moxham of Horowhenua have just been named as Fonterra's top organic performer for milksolids. As well as providing organic milk to Fonterra, the couple also sell Udderly Organic milk to more than 100 outlets in the region and are embarking on another exciting venture producing organic gelato. Reporter Peter Burke went along to see their farming operation.

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

Burn the village

OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."

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