Overbearing?
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.
OPINION: Well-known professional protestor, John Minto has run off at the mouth without checking his facts.
Minto, who came to fame 40 years ago as the head of the anti-Springbok tour movement, recently wrote an open letter on a left-wing blog accusing the Groundswell movement of... "giving platforms to vile and repugnant racism and anti-Semitism".
Minto claimed he had been "informed" that the group was holding meetings where speakers... "promoted a series of conspiracy theories which centred on Jews, Socialists and Communists working together through the United Nations to promote 'world government'".
The problem was he was misinformed about these meetigns and they had nothing to do with Groundswell.
The Hound reckons minto probably took too many hits to the head from the Red Squad back in 1981 and this could be the reason he was way off beam - again - on this claim.
Holstein Friesian excellence was front and centre at the 2025 Holstein Friesian NZ (HFNZ) Awards, held recently in Invercargill.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
This past week has seen another round of negotiations between India and New Zealand to produce a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
The Infrastructure Commission has endorsed a plan by Chorus to expand fibre broadband to 95% of New Zealand much to the delight of rural women.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.