OPINION: Every year, December 5 marks World Soil Day. This date wasn’t chosen at random, it’s the birthday of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, a passionate advocate for soil stewardship.
OPINION: Your old mate welcomes the proposed changes to local government but notes it drew responses that ranged from the reasonable to the ridiculous, depending on what axe people had to grind.
OPINION: A press release from the oxygen thieves running the hot air symposium on climate change, known as COP30, grabbed your old mate’s attention.
OPINION: Farmers, rural professionals and scientists were together last month in Hamilton, discussing hot topics for the land-based primary sector at the New Zealand Grassland Association (NZGA) conference.
OPINION: Among the many satisfying jobs on the farm is shifting our Angus heifers onto fresh pasture. They love it. Tails up, they gallop around for a minute, then it’s heads down — those long, raspy tongues pulling in mouthfuls of lush green feed.
OPINION: The latest reforms of local government should come as no surprise.
OPINION: This old mutt thinks New Zealand should take a bow after winning the ‘Fossil of the Day’ award at COP30 in Brazil over recent improvements to our methane targets.
OPINION: The Hound reckons the argument run by the ‘agribusiness elite’ that the market will punish our exports if we don’t fall into line with spurious targets like the Paris Accord doesn’t pass the sniff test.
OPINION: Winston Peters has described the decision to sell its brand to Lactalis and disperse the profit to its farmer shareholders as a 'short sighted sugar hit'.
OPINION: The Hound reckons a big problem with focusing too much on the wrong goal - reducing livestock emissions at the expanse of food production, in this case - is that the Government starts throwing taxpayer coin at increasingly ridiculous ideas.
OPINION: Farmers along the east coast of both islands are being urged to start planning for drought as recent nor'west winds have left soil moisture levels depleted.
OPINION: Eight point two billion people on the planet. Ten point three billion exported by 2084 (according to the latest United Nations' projections). And it is our role as farmers and growers in the food system to feed them. We need to do this as sustainably as possible, but the…
OPINION: In a memo, rich guy Bill Gates didn't become a climate change denier, but he did give the world a dose of common sense, saying we should redirect efforts away from the campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and instead focus on other ways to improve human lives and…
OPINION: Did the Prime Minister hint last week that the sale of Landcorp assets could be part of the manifesto for the next election?
OPINION: Every time politicians come up with an investment scheme where they're going to have a crack at 'picking winners' with our money, the Hound cringes.
OPINION: What are the unions for these days?
OPINION: When someone says “we don’t want a handout, we need a hand up” it usually means they have both palms out and they want your money.
OPINION: Your old mate hears some of the farmers involved in the Meat Industry Excellence (MIE) group ten years ago think the Alliance deal with Irish company Dawn Meats is “an absolute disaster” – and is the kind of outcome they predicted back then if nothing changed.
OPINION: The Hound reckons the recent stoush about the old Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) expanding its brief – with no real mandate – from traditional broadcasting to internet platforms is a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’
OPINION: I have been thinking quite a bit recently about something I could call Life Lessons Learned.
OPINION: Wool farmers believe the future of strong wool still holds promise.
OPINION: Farmers are being asked to celebrate a target that changes nothing for the climate, wastes taxpayer money, and ignores real science.
OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related protests – and that is to be expected, but the diplomatic efforts and wisdom of Winston Peters in this area should not be overlooked or ignored.
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact that, now more than ever, US farmers are being propped up by government welfare – a direct result of Trump’s hardline on its trading partners.
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The Hound
Political colours
OPINION: Your old mate welcomes the proposed changes to local government but notes it drew responses that ranged from the reasonable…
True agenda
OPINION: A press release from the oxygen thieves running the hot air symposium on climate change, known as COP30, grabbed your…
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