Editorial: Punching Above Our Weight
OPINION: With 10,500 dairy farms, New Zealand continues to punch above its weight around the world.
The Hound would love to be a fly on the wall at the next Fonterra board meeting, when re-elected director Leonie Guiney returns to the dairy co-op’s the top table.
Your old mate hears that the self-nominated Guiney was the top-polling candidate at this year’s director elections.
This must have been a double whammy to Fonterra’s network of old-boys who not only engineered Guiney’s departure from the board last year via their Stalinist ‘board candidate nominee process’ but also watched as two of their ‘nominees’ failed to get elected last month.
One can only guess there will be some very uncomfortable people with red faces when they welcome the South Canterbury farmer back to Gumboot Castle in Auckland. Awkward, as they say.
A Palmerston North shearer has been sentenced to six months' community detention and 12 months' supervision after being found to have physically abused three lambs while shearing them.
Power Farming has launched a joint venture in Southland.
Food rescue charity Meet the Need has released its 2025/26 Impact Report, revealing a record year of growth alongside a stark warning: demand for food support across New Zealand is rising faster than supply can keep up.
As we move into the second half of 2026, the Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA) reports that Year-to-Date figures ending June 30 saw new tractor deliveries hitting 1,386 units or 10.7% ahead of the same period in 2025.
The avocado sector is entering the new season with a larger crop and positive market opportunities.
New Zealand growers have always adapted to changing conditions, but one challenge is steadily gaining ground across the horticulture sector: resistance.