Strange bedfellows
OPINION: Two types of grifters have used the sale of Fonterra's consumer brands as a platform to push their own agendas - under the guise of 'caring about the country'.
OPINION: The Hound reckons that meat company Silver Fern Farms is now drinking from the same Kool Aid trough as the anti-farming types at Greenpeace.
The company claims it wants to be the "world's most sustainable grass-fed meat company" and this new strategy includes "committing to a 'Regenerative' future"!
As the Hound's mate says, this is interesting, when no one can actually define what 'Regenerative Ag' (RA) actually is.
How will the 50% Chinese-owned company defined what qualifies as RA and what does not?
Will it be employing its fellow RA advocates from Greenpeace to audit its suppliers to ensure they are meeting RA measures?
Does this mean that SFF will no longer take part in the Sunday night auctions and will only take livestock that is produced on farms by approved regenerative methods?
Or is this just greenwash marketing, as many suspect?
Greenlea Premier Meats managing director Anthony (Tony) Egan says receiving the officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) honour has been humbling.
Waikato dairy farmer Neil Bateup, made a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in the New Year 2026 Honours list, says he’s grateful for the award.
Another Australian state has given the green light to virtual fencing, opening another market for Kiwi company Halter.
Farmer interest continues to grow as a Massey University research project to determine the benefits or otherwise of the self-shedding Wiltshire sheep is underway. The project is five years in and has two more years to go. It was done mainly in the light of low wool prices and the cost of shearing. Peter Burke recently went along to the annual field day held Massey's Riverside farm in the Wairarapa.
Applications are now open for the 2026 NZI Rural Women Business Awards, set to be held at Parliament on 23 July.
Ravensdown has announced a collaboration with Kiwi icon, Footrot Flats in an effort to bring humour, heart, and connection to the forefront of the farming sector.

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