Half A Brain
OPINION: When Donald Trump returned to the White House, many people with half a brain could see the results for the world might be a bit average, and our boy has been busy trying to prove them right.
OPINION: Despite the volatility created by the shoot-from-the-hip trade tariff 'stratefy' being deployed by the new state tenants in the White House, farm commodity prices are holding their own.
The crash in U.S. bonds was the only guardrail that seemed to keep Trump's excess in check.
As investors and governments dumped US bonds (Canada and EU countries particularly using them as leverage in the trade war), the greenback devalued, pushing the relative value of the NZD up into the 60s.
Sharemarkets are all over the place and the geopolitical scene isn't great for confidence, to state the obvious.
And yet, as at 2 weeks ago, ASB reported lamb prices up 0.8%, beef up 0.4% and dairy up 2.1%.
And Stats NZ reckons March exports were excellent: dairy up 35%, meat up 34% and fruit up a whopping 74%.
Westgold butter has been named New Zealand's tastiest in a blind tasting conducted by Consumer New Zealand.
A New Zealand agritech and dairy services group has big plans as it expands its dairy services footprint across dairy hygiene, data, and milk cooling with the purchase of nationwide refrigeration business Dairy Technology Services (DTS).
The 2026 Holstein Friesian sales season has already delivered outstanding results across New Zealand and Australia - including a new Australasian record.
OPINION: At a time when farmers are advocating for less government spending and no new taxes, the dairy sector is rightly concerned by ACT's new immigration policy.
Feilding Agricultural High School isn't alone in offering agricultural or horticultural subjects as part of its curriculum, but the location of one of its farms on the northern edge of the urban fringe makes for some interesting considerations.
Analysis of decades of research has revealed the good farming pracrtice plays a critical role in reducing nutrient losses to improve freshwater outcomes.