Cuddling cows
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its cows and instead charge visitors to cuddle them.
It's worth noting though that NZ's merchandies trade surplus in April 2025 was $1.4 billion, compared with a deficit of $12 million in April 2024, according to Stats NZ.
New Zealand has had only four monthly surpluses over $1 billion.
This one, and the others, are thanks to farmers.
And yet, the 'Green Budget' includes a 2.5% annual tax on a couple's net assets over $4 million and a 33% tax on inheritances over a $1 million threshold.
This would see land held within the family for generations sold off just to pay the tax bill and, as Andrew Hoggard says, we'd see "a scarring effect on rural communities, a sledgehammer to rural investment, and food production shifted offshore".
