Make it 1000%!
OPINION: The appendage swinging contest between the US and China continues, with China hitting back with a new rate of 125% on the US, up from the 84% announced earlier.
Your old mate – in an earlier column – expressed concerns about the recent appointment of Mark Townshend as board chair of DairyNZ subsidiary – NZAEL.
Apparently, this appointment has raised more issues, with the Hound reliably informed that Townsend is a shareholder and director of dairy genetics company Matriarch Genetics while chairing NZAEL – which is tasked by Dairy NZ to lead the “independent provision of state-of-the-art national genetic evaluations for the NZ dairy sector”.
As the Hound’s informant asks: “One can’t help wondering how an owner of a private breeding company has ended up at the helm of a public good breeding evaluation one?” It’s a very good question and one which Dairy NZ and its chair should answer!
Only this season’s $10/kgMS bumper payout has saved some dairy farms along the Taranaki coast from absolute disaster due to the present drought – dubbed as one of the worst ever for some.
A survey of contract milkers in the dairy sector has revealed some shocking statistics - 43% of respondents reported abusive behaviour from a farm owner and a whopping 72% suffered a mental and/or financial setback in the role.
The 2025 game bird season is underway with Hawke’s Bay and Southland reporting the ideal weather conditions for hunters – rain and wind.
A group of meat processing companies, directors and managers have been fined a total of $1.6 million for deliberately and illegally altering exported tallow for profit.
New Zealand’s top cheeses for 2025 have been announced and family-owned, Oamaru-based Whitestone Cheese is the big winner.
Waikato farmer, and Owl Farm demonstration manager, Jo Sheridan is the 2025 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
OPINION: The appendage swinging contest between the US and China continues, with China hitting back with a new rate of…
OPINION: The irony of President Trump’s tariff obsession is that the worst damage may be done to his own people.