Damien O’Connor Criticises Budget 2026 as ‘Miserable’ for Rural New Zealand
A miserable budget that didn’t deliver much for anyone.
The hound reckons Labour’s agriculture spokesman Damien O’Connor may be treading on thin ice in calling for Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings to take a pay cut due to poor performance of the dairy co-op.
O’Connor suggested Spierings should take a voluntary pay cut and that such a move would restore credibility with farmers and staff. However, a mate of yours truly wondered if O’Connor and his Labour colleagues would heed their own advice? The Hound’s confidant suggested that O’Connor, his struggling leader Andrew Little and the rest of the Labour caucus could also take a ‘voluntary’ pay cut for Labour’s continuing woeful performance. He suggests what is good enough for the goose (Fonterra) should be good enough for the gander (Labour).
With a third of NZ dairy farmers still running outdated refrigerants, the country's largest farm refrigeration company says the opportunity for quick, meaningful emissions gains has never been clearer.
OPINION: Farmers are being put on notice by the Green Party.
As dairy farmers lock in plans for the upcoming mating season, a partnership between Fonterra and Silver Fern Farms has been formed with the aim of making it simpler to create additional value from calves not entering the replacement herd.
Farmers can now get a more reliable view of pasture covers across their farm, thanks to a combination of three data sources.
A warning to dairy farmers not to expect the same good conditions that they experienced last season, has been issued by a leading farm consultant.
South Waikato farmer Bas Nelis is always interested in fine-tuning his business to improve results.

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OPINION: A nation that relies as heavily as NZ does on functional global shipping lanes will have to do its…