Election 2026: How Parties Would Lift the Arable Sector
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: Greenpeace's criticism of the appointment of farmers’ champion Andrew Hoggard as Associate Minister of Agriculture and of the Environment is baffling.
They claim that Federated Farmers has long been the attack dog in the dairy industry’s predatory delay of climate action and water protection and blames farmers for badly polluted rivers, dangerous levels of nitrate contamination in rural drinking water and high levels of climate pollution.
Greenpeace conveniently forgets that farmers have planted thousands of kilometres of fencing on their farms and reduced nitrate leaching.
They also conveniently forget that sewage from urban centres have been washing up on our beaches and making them unfit for swimming.
Farmers, along with their milk processors, are already working to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions profile. That’s what make them the leaders in the global dairy community when it comes to sustainability.
Three men have been sentenced in District Courts after Ministry for Primary Industries prosecutions over animal welfare, food safety and cattle tracing offences.
Fonterra’s 2026 financial year was a year of delivery, with record volumes of milk collected, processed and shipped by the co-op.
OPINION: The Government's decision to reinstate agriculture and horticultural science as a standalone subject from Year 11 is the right one.
Dairy farmers, still holding onto their Fonterra shares despite switching milk supply elsewhere or exiting the industry, now face a stricter share sell-down requirement.
Hamilton-based agritech company Aimer Farming has completed a $3 million capital raise to support its next stage of growth, including a beef farming product due to launch in 2027.
When dairy manager Miriam Lauridsen learned the farm, she was joining held weekly health and safety meetings, she initially thought that was “a bit over the top”. Experiencing that culture changed her mind.