Waihi Dairy Farmer Fined $39,000 for Dairy Effluent Breaches
A Waihi dairy farmer, Keith Torrens, has been convicted and fined $39,000 for the unlawful discharge of dairy effluent following a prosecution taken by Waikato Regional Council.
OPINION: This old mutt suggests the new government is going to have to move fast to rein in a number of district and regional councils around the country who seem hell-bent on trying to push through their own agendas.
A good example is the Otago Regional Council (ORC), which has been warned against ploughing ahead with a controversial water plan, despite recently meeting with Resource Management Act Reform Minister Chris Bishop to discuss how the new government's plan to update national freshwater management policies would affect the council's under-development land and water plan.
When Bishop informed the ORC in December that their June deadline had changed, the ORC issued a statement the following day saying, no, it had not.
Bishop needs to let ORC know - quick-smart - who is in charge and that it's not them!
In advance of the Budget, Finance Minister Nicola Willis put a clear damper on expectations and delivered accordingly.
Farmers should be cautiously optimistic as the 2026/27 season kicks off, says DairyNZ.
RaboResearch senior analyst Emma Higgins expects the 2026/27 dairy season to be another profitable one.
The new dairy season is kicking off with plenty of risks to the forecast farmgate price, both upside and downside, says ANZ agricultural economist Matt Dilly.
A potential showdown between the top two Federated Farmers leaders looms at the farmer lobby's annual meeting later this month.
FarmIQ Systems has developed a free land management app to help remove barriers to New Zealand farmers and growers adopting digital tools.

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OPINION: To a chorus of crying greenies, and not a minute too soon, the Government has moved to put the…