Tuesday, 15 February 2022 11:30

Take note!

Written by  The Hound

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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OPINION: Proponents of regenerative agriculture tend to be naturally aligned with a 'green mindset', so they will be nonplussed with their new mates in the US of A.

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OPINION: Mike Chapman, former chief executive of levy-funded HortNZ, has thrown out a challenge to farmers and growers to put their levy-funded industry organisations under the same scrutiny as fertiliser, electricity, labour and freight.

True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.

Stuffed!

The canine crusader always has his nose in the air for more media maleficence, so was pointing as soon as he saw the Stuff headline: ‘Wellington residents respond to PM saying he doesn’t need his job!’.

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.”

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The Hound

New Mates

OPINION: Proponents of regenerative agriculture tend to be naturally aligned with a 'green mindset', so they will be nonplussed with…

Levy Scrutiny

OPINION: Mike Chapman, former chief executive of levy-funded HortNZ, has thrown out a challenge to farmers and growers to put…

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