Sugar hit

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'.

Wrong focus?

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.

Good planning and early decision-making are critical when farmers are dealing with drought conditions.

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.

When nutrients are removed from the land in harvested material (plant or animal) the soil has a limited capacity to replace those nutrients.

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…

'Doomsday' overkill

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…

SOE on the block?

OPINION: Did the Prime Minister hint last week that the sale of Landcorp assets could be part of the manifesto for the next election?

Picking winners?

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.

'Told you so'

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.

BSA BS!

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’

Farmer's Chaplain Colin Miller

OPINION: I have been thinking quite a bit recently about something I could call Life Lessons Learned.

Paige Wills

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.

OPINION: While farmers are busy and diligently doing their best to deal with unwanted gasses, the opponents of farming - namely the Greens and their mates - are busy polluting the atmosphere with tirades of hot air about what farmers supposedly aren't doing.

OPINION: Media luvvies at Stuff, the Spinoff and the Granny Herald are spending more time than ever navel-gazing about why the peasants outside of their cosy little bubble no longer trust them.

OPINION: Why does it take Treasury so long to turn around its figures on how the economy is tracking?

In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.

OPINION: Ageing lefty Chris Trotter reckons that the decision to delay recognition of Palestinian statehood is more than just a fit of pique by Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

OPINION: A mate of yours truly recently met someone at a BBQ who works at a big consulting firm who spent a good 20 minutes trying to explain his role at the firm.

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The Hound

Sugar hit

OPINION: Winston Peters has described the decision to sell its brand to Lactalis and disperse the profit to its farmer…

Wrong focus?

OPINION: The Hound reckons a big problem with focusing too much on the wrong goal - reducing livestock emissions at…

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