DIRA Review: Open Country Dairy Warns Against Regulatory "Complacency"
The country's second largest milk processor is warning against 'complacency' during a review of competition regulations in the dairy sector.
National Party trade spokesman Todd McClay will become the party’s agriculture spokesperson, National leader Christopher Luxon announced today.
The news comes in the wake of the announcement by Todd Muller that he would not seek re-election this year.
Muller, a former leader of the National Party, took over the agriculture portfolio in an acting capacity last year after Barbara Kuriger had to resign the position amid a conflict of interest between her family and the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Luxon says McClay’s appointment to agriculture spokesperson will bring together the agriculture and trade portfolios under one spokesperson.
“Todd will lead National’s strong agriculture team of MPs and candidates including Nicola Grigg, Joseph Mooney, Suze Redmayne, and Miles Anderson,” he says.
“Agriculture does much of the heavy lifting in our economy – creating jobs, lifting incomes and feeding people all over the world,” he says. “National will campaign up and down the country to stop Labour’s war on farmers.”
It was also announced that local government and regional development spokesman Simon Watts will take on the climate change portfolio previously held by Muller.
Joseph Mooney will take over McClay’s tourism portfolio, and Kaipara Ki Mahurangi MP Chris Penk will be made National’s Cyclone Recovery spokesperson.
Signing up to a benchmarking tool is not about competition, but about improving collectively, says Ximena Puig and Alvaro Luzardo who are 50-50 sharemilkers at a 164-hectare (effective) dairy farm in Eketāhuna in the Lower North Island.
A leading British farming politician says he's impressed with the positive attitude of New Zealand farmers that he met during his recent trip here.
OPINION: With 10,500 dairy farms, New Zealand continues to punch above its weight around the world.
The Southern Dairy Hub (SDH), which runs a demonstration farm for South Island farmers, has a new general manager.
Esther Guy-Meakin has been announced as the new chief executive of the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
According to a progress report on the Aotearoa Horticulture Action Plan (AHAP), New Zealand's horticulture sector is making real progress on the big issues facing growers.