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OPINION: This old mutt has been contacted by a number of members of rural insurer FMG expressing concern about the jump in director fees this year.
According to its latest annual report, the rural insurer made a profit of $59.3 million in the '20-'21 year and total director fees came to $438,000 with chair Tony Cleland pulling in an average stipend of $100k.
However, in the '21-'22 year, FMG's profit was down to $22.8 million, yet total director fees jumped to $557,000 - with the chair earning $113k.
FMG is a mutual and according to its own PR, 'it was set up in 1905 to give farmers a better deal...'
However, according to some disgruntled FMG members, the only ones who seem to be getting a better deal from the rural insurer are its well remunerated directors.
Maybe there'll be questions about this at its annual meeting later this month.
OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.
OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."
OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.
OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling on a heroic scale - producing no environmental benefit whatsoever - the politician vowing to make that industry whole again, Shane Jones, is not above a bit of virtue signalling of his own.
OPINION: Your old mate's ear has been chewed off recently by farmers voicing their displeasure with the National Party, particularly relating to how they're treating their farmer base.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling for nominations for director roles in the Eastern North Island and Southern South Island electoral districts.
Going one better than a frustratingly close second place finish at last year's event, the country's top axeman, Jack Jordan of Taumaranui, last weekend won the Stihl Timbersports World Championship individual event in.
Canterbury A&P Association (CAPA) show president Brent Chamberlain says a big development for this year is the Wool Zone, first introduced two years ago as a showplace for everything produced from wool, but now greatly enlarged with its own Wool Marquee and more than 30 trade sites.
Salmonellosis is a serious disease in cattle.
Drench resistance is already hitting farm profits; it's not just a future problem.
Applications are open for Horticulture New Zealand's (HortNZ) 2026 scholarship programme, with 20 funding opportunities available.
OPINION: Your old mate hears some of the farmers involved in the Meat Industry Excellence (MIE) group ten years ago…
OPINION: The Hound reckons the recent stoush about the old Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) expanding its brief – with no…
