Thursday, 28 April 2022 11:25

Wood for trees?

Written by The Hound

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

OPINION: There is huge concern in rural communities around NZ about good sheep and beef farmland being bought by - mainly overseas-owned - carbon farming concerns.

Blame for this disaster can be fairly and squarely sheeted home to the current Government.

It has allowed an anomaly in law that bans overseas owners from buying land in this country for farming purposes, but at the same time allows foreignt investors to buy swathes of farmland to be planted in pine forests that will never be harvested and be used to offset their carbon emissions.

You can't blame farmers for selling their farms and taking the highest price, which inevitably is coming from carbon forest investors.

However, this is not just limited to Joe-average farmers.

The Hound understands a high profile farmer - with a number of directorships in farming companies recently sold out to carbon interests.

If industry leaders are are doing this, what chance for the rest of us?

More like this

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.”

Ewe Zealand First

OPINION: After all the criticism that Winston Peters leveled at the India/NZ FTA, it seemed just a trifle ironic to the Hound that the first NZ politician to visit India after Prime Minister Modi's visit was a member of the Ewe Zealand First party.

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

Burn the village

OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."

Purist problem

OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.

Featured

Faulkner: Take Rural Infrastructure Out of Politics

Federated Farmers' new vice president Sandra Faulkner says the issue of adverse events emergency management and infrastructure needs to be taken out of the three-year political cycle.

B+LNZ Employment Hub: Farm Staff Support, Refreshed

Building a strong team is one of the biggest drivers of a successful sheep and beef business, but it can also be one of the tougher parts to get right.

NZ Blueberry Industry Sounds Alarm Over MPI Import Plan

Blueberry growers are warning that fresh imports could pose a huge biosecurity risk for NZ’s horticulture sector.

US Launches Lamb Safeguard Probe, NZ Exports at Risk

As expected, the US has launched a safeguard investigation into lamb imports, a move that could impact New Zealand sheepmeat returns.

Milk Glut Drags Fonterra Forecast Down to $9.20/kgMS

A milk glut around the world shows no sign of easing, putting downward pressure on farmgate milk prices for the next few months.

PC1 Pause Looms as Coalition Targets Waikato Farm Rules

A pause on Waikato Regional Council's (WRC) plan change that sets new freshwater rules for farming could be announced in the coming weeks.

National

185 Beef Farms Sign Up as Halter's Satellite Fencing Delivers Early Gains

Two months after unveiling a major upgrade to its beef product, Halter says its farmers are on track for major…

First H5 Bird Flu Case Confirmed in NZ

New Zealanders are being urged to be alert following a confirmed positive case of H5 bird flu this week.

NZ First 'doesn't oppose trade element' of India FTA

Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson says his party – NZ First - isn’t opposed to the “trade element” of a…

DairyNZ: Waikato Farmers Need Certainty on PC1 Rules

{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "DairyNZ: Waikato Farmers Need Certainty on PC1 Rules", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Staff…