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OPINION: Following Beef + Lamb NZ's rather testy annual meeting - and the ousting of former chair Andrew Morrison - the organisation decided to go on a charm offensive in an effort to get farmers back onside.
It has run a number of farmer meetings around the country to get feedback on key issues - including the widely unpopular HWEN.
However, B+LNZ's new 'open and transparent' mode appears to be about as murky as Michael Wood's share portfolio, with media banned from attending the meetings.
B+LNZ claims banning media from the meetings would encourage farmers to be more 'open' about their concerns.
However, as one appalled farmer told yours truly, the ban made B+LNZ "more like the Freemasons by the day".
He believes the reason media attendance was thwarted was because it would have recorded and reported the real discussion.
OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities Party, labelled by some as the 'LinkedIn Greens' for their corporate spin on Green-esque 'tax the rich' policies.
OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in Westminster is a salient warning for us.
OPINION: Proponents of regenerative agriculture tend to be naturally aligned with a 'green mindset', so they will be nonplussed with their new mates in the US of A.
OPINION: Mike Chapman, former chief executive of levy-funded HortNZ, has thrown out a challenge to farmers and growers to put their levy-funded industry organisations under the same scrutiny as fertiliser, electricity, labour and freight.
A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.
