Jacqueline Rowarth

OPINION: The Financial Times, a major international newspaper, featured New Zealand on its front page at the beginning of June. It wasn't for the right reasons.

Overbearing?

OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the job description of PR is to grease the wheels and ensure clients get good media coverage.

Foot-in-mouth

OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left them wishing they had kept their mouth firmly closed.

OPINION: Your old mate hears some of the recent uptick in farmer confidence has slipped since the political polls started leading a bit to the left, away from the current coalition of National, Act and NZ First.

Trust us!

OPINION: Ther'es a reason politicians rank even lower than John Campbell in the most trusted profession surveys.

The latest Situation and Outlook Report predicts export returns for the year will be close to $60 billion.

OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.

110,000 visitors!

OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.

Sticky situation

OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.

Suitors line up

OPINION: As Fonterra's divestment of its Oceania and global consumer businesses progresses, clear contenders are emerging.

On the go

OPINION: After hopping from one event to another at Fieldays, Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard would have been hoping for a rest.

ANZ chief executive Antonia Watson.

OPINION: Two years on from Cyclone Gabrielle, I've learned that while the power of Mother Nature is formidable, it is more than matched by the extraordinary capacity of locals to recover and rebuild.

OPINION: ACT MP Mark Cameron isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he certainly calls it how he sees it, holding nothing back when ‘climate scientists’ had a crack at Kiwi farmers recently:

OPINION: Did former PM Jacinda Ardern get fawning reviews for her book?

OPINION: Missed out on a knighthood in the King’s Birthday Honours, again?

OPINION: The antipathy the previous government had for farmers no longer holds court on the Beehive’s 9th floor, but it’s still alive and well in some ivory towers, judging by a recent missive from the self-styled ‘Integrity Institute’.

OPINION: During my last recess break, I got around the country and met with many farmers and growers from Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Manawatu, Marlborough, and Canterbury.

OPINION: Soon New Zealand farmers will be asked to know their greenhouse gas (GHG) number. There are a vast number of GHG calculators available, all giving a different answer and none of them allowing for your pasture to be viewed as a CO2 ‘sequesterer’.

With the stars of Matariki to rise in June, Jeff Sinnott, a member of the Tuku Māori Winemakers Collective, looks at their relevance to our grape and wine community.

OPINION: When we talk about the future of farming, we often focus on the tools - automation, sensors, satellite data, digital models. But we rarely talk about the people shaping that future. And more importantly, who might be missing from the room.

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Overbearing?

OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…

Foot-in-mouth

OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter