Displaying items by tag: Andrew Hoggard

It was billed as a chance for all the political parties to woo the rural vote, but question marks hang over just how effective this was.

There's been widespread support from the primary sector for the Government's announcement on changes to freshwater farm plans that come under the Natural Environment Bill, which is now set to replace the existing RMA.

A pause on Waikato Regional Council's (WRC) plan change that sets new freshwater rules for farming could be announced in the coming weeks.

New Zealanders are being urged to be alert following a confirmed positive case of H5 bird flu this week.

OPINION: Farmers are being put on notice by the Green Party.

Retiring MP and dairy farmer Mark Cameron is blasting the Green Party for proposing to ban the use of synthetic fertiliser and cutting cow numbers.

OPINION: While we're on the topic of lumberjacks, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has no doubt used a chainsaw hundreds of times, but your old mate reckons he would’ve still been sweating on getting it right when cutting down a pine in front of the cameras, as he did above Queenstown during a recent pre-Budget announcement around extra funding for wilding pine control efforts.

Wilding pines are the wrong tree in the wrong place, and they need to go, says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard.

OPINION: For thousands of Southland farmers, this week would have tipped them into the non-compliant category when it comes to following regional freshwater plan rules. But the Government has stepped in to give them the clarity they deserve.

Southland farmers staring down a May deadline to submit freshwater farm plans under current regional plan rules have been given an 18-month reprieve by the Government.