Editorial: RMA reforms uproar
OPINION: The euphoria over the Government’s two new bills to replace the broken Resource Management Act is over.
This old mutt was taken aback by a vitriolic opinion piece penned in a weakly (sic) rural publication late last year by a self-important commentator named Craig Wiggins.
In the piece, Wiggins slammed Fed Farmers for what he claimed was the organisation’s lack of activity in relation to the M.bovis outbreak and accused the national farming lobby of not supporting farmers affected by the disease – especially in the Mid Canterbury region. This attack surprised your old mate, and a little sniffing around by yours truly discovered that Wiggins was once employed by Young Farmers. But he lost his role when former YFC chief executive and current Feds boss Terry Copeland ‘let him go’. Perhaps Wiggins’ anti-Feds stance is a bit of utu on his former boss.
Global trade has been thrown into another bout of uncertainty following the overnight ruling by US Supreme Court, striking down President Donald Trump's decision to impose additional tariffs on trading partners.
Controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill have been lifted.
Fonterra farmer shareholders and unit holders are in line for another payment in April.
Farmers are being encouraged to take a closer look at the refrigerants running inside their on-farm systems, as international and domestic pressure continues to build on high global warming potential (GWP) 400-series refrigerants.
As expected, Fonterra has lifted its 2025-26 forecast farmgate milk price mid-point to $9.50/kgMS.
Bovonic says a return on investment study has found its automated mastitis detection technology, QuadSense, is delivering financial, labour, and animal-health benefits on New Zealand dairy farms worth an estimated $29,547 per season.

OPINION: Here w go: the election date is set for November 7 and the politicians are out of the gate…
OPINION: ECan data was released a few days ago showing Canterbury farmers have made “giant strides on environmental performance”.