Wednesday, 30 April 2025 08:42

Cut with care

Written by  Milking It

OPINION: NZ farming is built on hard work, but also on innovation, a lot of which came about thanks to a focused scientific effort over many decades.

We can't afford to lose too much more of that sort of capability in ag science, so the cutbacks to scientific spending needs to be watched closely.

However, Milking It notes that not all science has been created equally in recent years, and Crusha Collins' axe deservedly fell on a lot of 'research' that should be relabeled as 'woke virtue signaling nonsense'.

This peaked with the $4 million Landcare Research handed over to see if playing whale song to trees could cure Kauri dieback - true story.

So, yes, take some of the scientific community's moaning about cuts with a grain of salt, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater!

More like this

It's all about economics

OPINION: According to media reports, the eye-watering price of butter has prompted Finance Minister Nicola Willis to ask for a 'please explain' from her former employer Fonterra.

Red line on dairy

OPINION: As India negotiates to open its borders to more global products, dairy is proving a sticky issue.

Farmland security

OPINION: Paranoia about foreigners is at an all-time high in the US and attention is now turning to foreign-owned farmland.

Featured

Jack Jordan takes Stihl Timbersports gold for NZ

Going one better than a frustratingly close second place finish at last year's event, the country's top axeman, Jack Jordan of Taumaranui, last weekend won the Stihl Timbersports World Championship individual event in.

Canterbury A&P Show expands with new Wool Zone

Canterbury A&P Association (CAPA) show president Brent Chamberlain says a big development for this year is the Wool Zone, first introduced two years ago as a showplace for everything produced from wool, but now greatly enlarged with its own Wool Marquee and more than 30 trade sites.

National

Machinery & Products

New pick-up for Reiter R10 merger

Building on experience gained during 10 years of making mergers/ windrowers, Austrian company Reiter has announced the secondgeneration pick-up on…

Krone EasyCut B1250 fold

In 2024, German manufacturer Krone introduced the F400 Fold, a 4m wide disc front mower, featuring end modules that hinge…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Microplastics problem

OPINION: Microplastics are turning up just about everywhere in the global food supply, including in fish, cups of tea, and…

Job cuts

OPINION: At a time when dairy prices are at record highs, no one was expecting the world's second largest dairy…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter