Rural Communities Receive Wellbeing Boost
The Government has announced its support for 18 community-based initiatives through its Rural Wellbeing Fund.
OPINION: The Hound reckons any claims that Ag Minister Damien O’Connor is in the ‘wrong party’, will have been well and truly dispelled by comments he made at the recent Red Meat Sector Conference.
In a political discussion – held at the conference between O’Connor and National’s ag spokesman Todd McClay –the Minister told the audience of 300 meat industry people that we “probably don’t have enough tax in this country… we are going to have to contribute more!”
Apparently, O’Connor’s desire to tax New Zealanders more went down with this audience about as well as a fake meat burger!
The fact is that Labour wants more tax despite the fact it is now collecting $100 million more a day in tax than when they came to power in 2017!
New Zealand's diverse cheesemaking talent shone brightly last night as the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) crowned the champions of the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards.
Tracing has indicated that the source of the first velvetleaf find of the 2025-26 crop season, in Auckland, was likely maize purchased in the Waikato region.
Fish & Game New Zealand has announced its election priorities in its Manifesto 2026.
With the forage maize harvest started in Northland and the Waikato, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) is telling growers of later crops, or those further south, to start checking their maize crop maturity about three weeks prior to when they think they will start silage harvesting.
Irrigation NZ is warning that the government's Resource Management Act (RMA) reform risks falling short of its objectives unless water use for food production and water storage infrastructure are clearly recognised in the goals at the top of the new system.
More than five million trays, or 18,000 tonnes, of Zespri’s RubyRed Kiwifruit will soon be available for consumers across 16 markets this season.

OPINION: Election years are usually regarded as the silly season, but a mate of the Hound reckons 2026 is shaping…
OPINION: If farmers poured just a few litres of some pollutant into a stream, the Green Party and the wider…