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Federated Farmers vice-president Andrew Hoggard.
Communications and Digital Media Minister Clare Curran was scheduled to meet with Federated Farmers last week to discuss the rollout of rural broadband.
This follows Federated Farmers vice-president Andrew Hoggard saying that dealing with woeful rural-broadband coverage should not be delayed while the Government pursues the roll-out of 5G cellphone technology.
Spark and Vodafone have been reported as saying they are trialling 5G -- the next generation of digital communications.
“Meanwhile plenty of towns and the provincial hinterland are without broadband, and with patchy or non-existent mobile coverage,” Hoggard says.
However Curran told Dairy News she expects to say more about rural broadband and 5G projects over the coming months.
“Absolutely everyone should share in the benefits of new technology and we need to be improving rural access and pushing for the best technology available, and we are doing exactly that,” she says.
“The Government is prioritising rural communities as it recognises their contribution to our nation.”
She was to meet with the Feds last Thursday.
“The Rural Broadband Initiative 2 (RBI2) work is progressing in parallel with the 5G work; it’s not either-or and I want the pace of that work to increase as much as is possible.
Hoggard says when there is poor or no access to ultra-fast broadband and mobile, farming businesses and family life suffer.
Central Otago District Council (CODC) has voted against a plan to spread treated sewage sludge from Cromwell and Alexandra on farmland near Lauder, a decision Federated Farmers says reflects strong opposition from rural residents.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Federated Farmers says new legislation replacing the Resource Management Act will cut red tape, unlock investment and help grow New Zealand's export-led economy, after the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill passed their third reading in Parliament yesterday.
Leading figures from the major political parties will be questioned on their primary sector policies at the Rural Issues Debate at Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton, on 30 September.
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.
When Northland leather worker Vernon Suckling started making horse saddles 50 years ago, quad bikes and side-by-side vehicles were unheard of.
Alliance Group has confirmed that eligible farmer-shareholders who supply and continue to back the business will receive up to $20 million later this year, following the strategic investment partnership with Dawn Meats.
With a general election under five weeks away, Rural News is asking major political parties about their policies and positions on key issues facing the primary sector. We will run their responses to each question over the next four weeks. The ACT Party and the Greens didn't respond in time.
The red meat sector is in great heart.
Dr Scott Champion, Foundation for Arable Research chief executive, says that everyone in the supply chain had a role to play in driving the sector's long-term success.
Entries opened on Monday, 5 October 2026 for the 2027 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA), which organisers describe as the nation's biggest celebration of excellence in the dairy sector.
OPINION: It seems Canterbury processor Synlait is still in the doldrums.
OPINION: Get offside with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters at your own peril.
