Strange bedfellows
OPINION: Two types of grifters have used the sale of Fonterra's consumer brands as a platform to push their own agendas - under the guise of 'caring about the country'.
This old mutt has been a long-time critic of the multi-national, tax-dodging, political activist group Greenpeace for its sustained and never-ending attacks on the New Zealand farming sector.
So, your old mate was not surprised to see the group’s latest anti-farming campaign, this time calling for a ban on the use of nitrogen fertilisers.
Greenpeace is nothing if not consistent in its hatred of farming, having spent the last few years blaming the agricultural sector for polluting the country’s waterways and rivers, campaigning against irrigation and criticising agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. However, what the Dutch-headquartered organisation (estimated annual budget at least $420 million) seem totally oblivious to is the old truism: ‘It’s hard to be green when you are in the red’.
Ashburton cropping and dairy farmer Matthew Paton has been elected to the board of rural services company, Ruralco.
The global agricultural landscape has entered a new phase where geopolitics – not only traditional market forces – will dictate agricultural trade flows, prices, and production decisions.
National Lamb Day is set to return in 2026 with organisers saying the celebrations will be bigger than ever.
Fonterra has dropped its forecast milk price mid-point by 50c as a surge in global milk production is putting downward pressure on commodity prices.
The chance of a $10-plus milk price for this season appears to be depleting.
Keep focused on things that can be controlled on farm.

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