The incoming government needs to take a pragmatic and practical approach to dealing with a raft of issues affecting sheep and beef farmers.

Rural retailer and supplier Farmlands is being accused of going off the rails and shareholders are being urged to take back control of the co-operative.

OPINION: Your canine crusader notes that the Reserve Bank forecasts that more than 80% of beef and sheep farmers would be unprofitable if any future emissions pricing on carbon dioxide equivalent hit $150 per tonne.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand warns that the country's meat producers face another tough year as demand for sheep and beef recovers slightly, but not enough to outweigh increases in on-farm costs.

Dairy

'El Nino has officially arrived.’

In the light of a possible drought due to El Nino - particularly along the East Coast of the North Island - Beef + Lamb NZ is busy running workshops to help farmers in the region to cope with any eventuality.

Rabobank's latest rural confidence survey shows a minus 72% confidence reading - eclipsing last June’s historic minus 57% - the lowest in the survey’s 20-year history.

A recently formed pressure group is upping its campaign against any implementation of a methane tax.

OPINION: One of the tasks of whatever new government emerges in the coming days and weeks will be to look and see what can be done to restore farmer confidence.