Opinion

Sorting Fact From Fiction Is An Art

OPINION: Information is everywhere. So are misinformation and disinformation.

From farm to the cricket pitch

Hawke's Bay deer farmer Harry Gaddum organised the inaugural Gumboot Cup. It was a cricket tournament for 12 rural Hawke's Bay teams, their families, and the community. Gaddum says it was a chance for locals to get off farm, have some fun and connect, all for a good cause.

Is the Coalition Government Really Backing Farmers?

OPINION: Many sheep and beef farmers will be worse off under the new environment legislation than they were under the Resource Management Act (RMA), claims Beef+Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) in an email to levy payers.

Silly Season

OPINION: Election years are usually regarded as the silly season, but a mate of the Hound reckons 2026 is shaping up as the ‘stupid season’.

Two-Faced System

OPINION: If farmers poured just a few litres of some pollutant into a stream, the Green Party and the wider wooden bicycle enthusiast community would be on their soapboxes screaming about dirty farmers and demanding a harsh penalty, which regional authorities would be gagging to administer.

Diplomatic Incident

OPINION: Your old mate hears an international incident is threatening to blow up the long-standing Anzac alliance as Kiwis and Aussies argue over who wants new Australian resident and former NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Lame Duck?

OPINION: The media is already playing the 'who will Winston choose?' game every time the polls show Labour and National neck and neck.

Editorial: KiwiSaver Changes Bring Joy

OPINION: Getting a foot on the property ladder is becoming easier for young farmers.

Market Takes The Scenic Route

ANZ agri economist Matt Dilly looks at the impressive run of global dairy prices this year.

Editorial: Trump's Tirade

OPINION: "We are back to where we were a year ago," according to a leading banking analyst in the UK, referring to US president Donald Trump's latest imposition of a global 10% tariff on all exports into the US.

FTA and Uber Drivers

OPINION: Expect the Indian free trade deal to feature strongly in the election campaign.

Ice Cream Deal

OPINION: One of the world's largest ice cream makers, Nestlé, is going cold on the viability of making the dessert.

RMA Betrayal?

OPINION: Is it a case of over promising and under delivering? Farmers think so.

Oat Dear!

OPINION: The UK dairy industry is celebrating a win after plant-based drink maker Oatly lost a long-running legal battle over its use of the word "milk" in its marketing.

Saluting 'The Man in the Arena'

OPINION: As I was putting the final touches on my column for last month, the hottest ‘breaking news’ was the Scott Robertson story from New Zealand Rugby.

So, what to do with this succession malarky?

OPINION: She's a bit damp on the East Coast. Hughie can't stop the rain, and the high temps in between weather events has got the flies on the front foot in the animal health stakes.

Penny Pinching

OPINION: A mate of yours truly reckons rural Manawatu families are the latest to suffer under what he calls the Government's "performative restraint" - penny pinching on needed community stuff while the bureaucrat head count and wasteful spending in Wellington charges on undiminished.

New Order

OPINION: If old Winston Peters thinks building trade relations with new nations, such as India, isn't a necessary investment in our future, he has rocks in his head.

Double Standard

OPINION: The proverbial has really hit the fan in Wellington and exposed a glaring example of a double standard in environmental accountability.

'Altered'

OPINION: Dark suited spin doctors exist to, well, spin, and the nice cuddly progressive types at Greenpeace Aotearoa practice this dark art with the same cynicism as your average corporate giant.