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OPINION: Your old mate reckons a nasty war looks to be brewing in NZ farming politics.
For the past 18 months or so, the Groundswell lobby group has been stirring up farmers around the country over freshwater reforms, greenhouse gas taxes and a myriad of other issues troubling the rural sector.
It has also taken regular pot shots at the establishment lobbies such as Beef+Lamb and DairyNZ, accusing them (probably quite fairly) of cuddling up to the Government and selling out the sector time and time again.
All of this tension has now come to a head with the end of the recent farmer 'consultation' meetings held by HWEN (basically BLNZ and DairyNZ in drag).
Groundswell has accused DairyNZ of shutting down options; DairyNZ accused Groundswell of spreading misinformation and being offensive.
Pass the popcorn, this could get interesting.
OPINION: Many sheep and beef farmers will be worse off under the new environment legislation than they were under the Resource Management Act (RMA), claims Beef+Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) in an email to levy payers.
A drop in methane targets announced by the Government this month has pleased farmers but there are concerns that without cross-party support, the targets would change once a Labour-led Government is voted into office.
OPINION: This old mutt is loath to sound like Groundswell has been topping up his bowl with brisket off-cuts, but the ginger group makes a good point about the arguments raised in favour of toeing the Paris Agreement line.
The ACT Party's call for a better deal on the Paris Agreement on climate change is being backed by farmer organisations.
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.
The closure of the McCain processing plant and the recent announcement of 300 job losses at Wattie’s underscore the mounting pressure facing New Zealand’s manufacturing sector, Buy NZ Made says.
Specialist agriculture lender Oxbury has entered the New Zealand market, offering livestock finance to farmers.
New research suggests Aotearoa New Zealand farmers are broadly matching phosphorus fertiliser use to the needs of their soils, helping maintain relatively stable nutrient levels across the country’s agricultural land.
Helensville farmers, Donald and Kirsten Watson of Moreland Pastoral, have been named the Auckland Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
Marc and Megan Lalich were named 2026 Share Farmers of the Year at last night's Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Industry Awards.
William John Poole, a third year Agribusiness student at Massey University, has been awarded the Dr Warren Parker and Pāmu Scholarship.
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