Displaying items by tag: Andrew Hoggard

OPINION: Farmers and growers know the frustration well: Pointless paperwork, slow consents, and confusing red tape that turns simple tasks into complex ones.

New Zealand and Malaysia have agreed to boost trade for high-quality halal meat products.

"We're trying to get to the promised land but we're still in a bit of a swamp at the moment."

OPINION: After hopping from one event to another at Fieldays, Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard would have been hoping for a rest.

OPINION: During my last recess break, I got around the country and met with many farmers and growers from Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Manawatu, Marlborough, and Canterbury.

Six livestock industry groups have signed a new agreement with the Government on how to prepare for, and respond to, a possible outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease.

Dairy farmers are set to benefit from the radical sweeping changes the Government is planning to make to the regulations that form part of the Resource Management Act (RMA).

Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard says the consenting experience facing some high-country Canterbury sheep and beef farms is "bloody tragic" and vindicates the Government's move to abolish the Resource Management Act (RMA).

OPINION: For many farmers, the biggest regulatory challenge they face is the myriad things that the Resource Management Act throws up.

There's been a positive response to the Government's latest move to make freshwater farm plans more practical and affordable.