Damien O’Connor Criticises Budget 2026 as ‘Miserable’ for Rural New Zealand
A miserable budget that didn’t deliver much for anyone.
OPINION: Your old mate had a bit of a giggle at current Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor's effusive praise of the primary sector, when releasing the latest MPI SOPI report late last year.
O'Connor couldn't get in fast enough to welcome MPI's predictions that the country's primary sector would earn NZ more than $50 billion in export earnings by June 2022.
He even went on to say this figure would grow even more in the years ahead as NZ farmers and growers kept producing the very products the world wants.
Funny thing is that this is the same Damien O'Connor who poured scorn on his predecessor Nathan Guy when the former ag minister outlined his goal for the primary sector to double the value of its 2012 export figures of $32 billion to $64 billion by 2025.
It seems Guy's 2025 target may not be as fanciful as O'Connor claimed at the time!
New Zealand’s vegetable sector will take centre stage at Parliament today, celebrating a vital industry and sharing a clear, future focused vision for how it can continue to thrive.
New Zealand red meat exports reached a second consecutive monthly record in May, rising to $1.6 billion, according to the Meat Industry Association.
Patoa Farms Limited, New Zealand's largest pig farm, has been sold for an undisclosed price.
Potatoes New Zealand says it congratulates Amber Davy of Eurogrow on her recent win at the 2026 Canterbury Young Grower of the Year competition.
For Tararua District dairy farmer Lisa Lyons, ongoing professional development has always gone hand-in-hand with life on the farm, but a major health challenge prompted her to take her study journey even further.
New import standards could put New Zealand’s blueberry industry and the wider horticulture industry at risk.

OPINION: Central Hawke's Bay farmer Mark Warren recently told the Hawke's Bay Times it's time for a conversation about allowing…
OPINION: A nation that relies as heavily as NZ does on functional global shipping lanes will have to do its…