Displaying items by tag: Andrew Hoggard

As part of its Election 2026 coverage, Rural News asked political parties how they would help pull the arable sector out of the doldrums. Here's what they said:

OPINION: Rivers never sit still. They start as snowmelt and rain in the high country, pick up a creek here and a stream there, and carry all of it down to where it's needed.

OPINION: Well, the silly season is upon us and all us politicians are running around shaking babies and kissing hands, or maybe the other way around.

It was billed as a chance for all the political parties to woo the rural vote, but question marks hang over just how effective this was.

There's been widespread support from the primary sector for the Government's announcement on changes to freshwater farm plans that come under the Natural Environment Bill, which is now set to replace the existing RMA.

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

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

OPINION: Farmers are being put on notice by the Green Party.

Retiring MP and dairy farmer Mark Cameron is blasting the Green Party for proposing to ban the use of synthetic fertiliser and cutting cow numbers.

OPINION: While we're on the topic of lumberjacks, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has no doubt used a chainsaw hundreds of times, but your old mate reckons he would’ve still been sweating on getting it right when cutting down a pine in front of the cameras, as he did above Queenstown during a recent pre-Budget announcement around extra funding for wilding pine control efforts.