Tuesday, 08 October 2024 14:55

Lost the room?

Written by The Hound

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

OPINION: Beef+Lamb NZ has run a roadshow to sell its new strategy.

Thirty meetings, which a total of just 400 farmers attended – barely a baker’s dozen per meeting.

Given that there are some 23,400 sheep & beef farms in NZ (BLNZ Farm Facts 2021) the low turnout suggests a huge wave of apathy afflicting B+LNZ’s funders.

The roadshow followed the 2024 AGM which featured a poorly-timed attempt to hike directors’ fees and one of the worst-ever voter turnouts at just 12%.

At the time, chair Kate Acland blamed farmers’ busy schedules, ‘divisive’ social media and climate change remits for the low turnout.

What’s the excuse this time?

On top of the cost of the roadshow, B+LNZ spent a fortune promoting it.

The Hound humbly suggests the ‘no show’ suggests they’d already lost the room.

More like this

True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.

The canine crusader always has his nose in the air for more media maleficence, so was pointing as soon as he saw the Stuff headline: ‘Wellington residents respond to PM saying he doesn’t need his job!’.

Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.

Anyone in the primary sector will know about the clowns covering the countryside in the red tape we all have to wade through.

Spare a thought then for media outfit Stuff who were threatened with fines up to $200,000 by a snivelling civil servant from the MoH for illustrating a quiz question with a photo of part of the cover of a 45-year-old copy Playboy.

As Stuff notes, “It wasn’t the Playboy cover which caused offence. No, it was the back page which… featured an advert for a cigarette brand”.

As Regulations Minister David Seymour notes, “The real scandal here is, well, no wonder we’ve got problems in healthcare when they’re doing the Stuff quiz during work time.”

Ewe Zealand First

OPINION: After all the criticism that Winston Peters leveled at the India/NZ FTA, it seemed just a trifle ironic to the Hound that the first NZ politician to visit India after Prime Minister Modi's visit was a member of the Ewe Zealand First party.

US Launches Lamb Safeguard Probe, NZ Exports at Risk

As expected, the US has launched a safeguard investigation into lamb imports, a move that could impact New Zealand sheepmeat returns.

Featured

RSE Scheme Changes Coming - McClay

Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has admitted that a scheme bringing workers from Pacific nations to work on orchards has become too hard to navigate but says changes are coming.

New App StockScore Digitises Livestock Condition Scoring

A new app designed in New Zealand aims to help sheep, beef and deer farmers capture, analyse and use body condition score data more effectively.

Andy Macfarlane Joins AgriZeroNZ Board

Canterbury farmer Andy Macfarlane has been appointed to the board of AgriZeroNZ, the public-private partnership designed to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reduction tools for New Zealand farmers.

Apple sector veteran honoured for 'extraordinary contribution'

For over 50 years Mel Ewers has been supporting the apple sector navigate through compliance and quality assurance issues.

Minister praises apple sector’s growth story

The apple sector is enjoying a bumper harvest season.

Campaign Urges Growers to Plan Ahead on Resistance

Growers and farmers are being encouraged to have an important conversation before the coming season starts: how to prolong the effectiveness of the crop protection tools they rely on.