A drain is sometimes considered a negative word associated with depletion, exhaustion and loss of resources.
OPINION: The joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, and Iran's retaliation against several countries in the region, may further tighten farm margins due to the risk of increased input costs, especially for fertilisers like urea and also for diesel.
OPINION: Public opinion, political pragmatism and commercial and market reality have caused the Government to abandon introducing legislation into Parliament to legalise the shipment by sea of live animals - mainly cows - to overseas destinations.
OPINION: With export of livestock by sea dead in the water, opponents of the Gene Technology Bill think they can also force another U-turn from the Government.
OPINION: The coalition Government seems to have chickened out when it comes to live animal exports by sea.
OPINION: Information is everywhere. So are misinformation and disinformation.
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.
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.
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’.
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.
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.
OPINION: The media is already playing the 'who will Winston choose?' game every time the polls show Labour and National neck and neck.
OPINION: Getting a foot on the property ladder is becoming easier for young farmers.
ANZ agri economist Matt Dilly looks at the impressive run of global dairy prices this year.
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.
OPINION: Expect the Indian free trade deal to feature strongly in the election campaign.
OPINION: One of the world's largest ice cream makers, Nestlé, is going cold on the viability of making the dessert.
OPINION: Is it a case of over promising and under delivering? Farmers think so.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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The Hound
Silly Season
OPINION: Election years are usually regarded as the silly season, but a mate of the Hound reckons 2026 is shaping…
Two-Faced System
OPINION: If farmers poured just a few litres of some pollutant into a stream, the Green Party and the wider…
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