My name is Jeff Smith and I am an independent journalist with 50 years in the game. My last 15 years have been concentrated on agriculture and I was editor of Straight Furrow  for seven years before its name change.

I have long believed that the agricultural community has not been well served by the Mainstream Media considering its importance to this country. There is a plethora of sites on the internet you can visit but a one-click stop must have appeal.

Welcome to my AGRIgator website.

It will save you time and it is quick and easy to use.

It is intended to be a single, consistent source of all things agricultural both here in New Zealand and from around the world.

Agrigator is as its name suggest an aggregator site that will include material already published but more importantly it is open to all contributions relevant to the rural scene.

A very large number of press releases never see the light of day or are rehashed by journalists under their own byline.

Here they will be published just as they were offered.

All aggregated copy and all contributions will contain links back to the original source.

Thinking Stuff

• Monsanto’s code of silence August 24, 2015 Monsanto’s Code of Silence by Colin Todhunter In his book Altered Genes, Twisted Truth, US public interest attorney Steven Druker exposed the fraudulent practices and deceptions that led to the commercialisation of GM food and crops in the US. Not long after the book’s release, he wrote an open letter to the Royal Society in Britain calling on it to acknowledge and correct the misleading and exaggerated statements that it has used to actively promote GMOs and in effect convey false impressions and the other to Monsanto. He followed this up by delivering a challenge to Monsanto’s headquarters on May 20, 2015 calling on the company to ...
• Urban agriculture is proliferating August 24, 2015 Taking the Long View with Gord Stewart                ~~~ Seems strange to be writing a column about gardening in the “depths” of winter, but that’s the whole point really. Except for the occasional cold blast, much of the country is blessed with weather that allows for year-round gardening. No need to bring in “summer” vegetables from somewhere else, when we can grow what we need right here – even in our own backyards. Winter vegetables are just one part of a local food systems movement gaining momentum everywhere. It’s a movement supported by people looking for fresher, tastier, and more nutritious food. Some are in ...
• Monsanto Wants to Know Why People Doubt Science August 2, 2015 Monsanto Wants to Know Why People Doubt Science by Colin Todhunter On Twitter recently, someone asked the question “Why do people doubt science?” Accompanying the tweet was a link to an article in National Geographic that implied people who are suspicious of vaccines, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), climate change, fluoridated water and various other phenomena are confused, adhere to conspiracy theories, are motivated by ideology or are misinformed as a result of access to the ‘University of Google.’ The remedy, according what is said in the article, is for us all to rely on scientific evidence pertaining to these issues and adopt a ...
• Working Class War Fodder July 29, 2015 Working Class War Fodder by Colin Todhunter   Who in their right mind would be prepared to fight and die for Shell, Chevron or Coca Cola? Who with half a brain would choose to put their life on the line for Goldman Sachs, Bank of America or General Electric? Any volunteers? I’m guessing there wouldn’t be many. Then again, I could be wrong. Think of the tens of thousands of NATO troops who over the last decade or so have been in Afghanistan or Iraq. Drunk on the potent aphrodisiac of nationalism and a military that sells life in the armed forces as resembling some computer game ...
• Who Will Bail Out Humanity? July 21, 2015 Who Will Bail Out Humanity If the GMO Evangelists Win? by Colin Todhunter The pro-GMO lobby likes to think it has the monopoly on truth. Anyone questioning its creed is attacked and smeared. GM Supporters claim to be big on science and peer review. While mouthing slogans about science and its pivotal role in steering the GM debate, they rely on unscientific tactics and polemics to promote their cause. They censor and distort scientific research and attack and smear scientists and others who criticise the pro-GMO establishment and the efficacy of or need for this technology. They also forward bogus claims based on ...
• Is this the world’s most dangerous drink? July 7, 2015 Is this the world’s most dangerous drink? By David Derbyshire David Derbyshire is an award winning freelance environment, science and countryside writer who writes for national UK newspapers and magazines.  Once you’ve sampled a glass of raw milk freshly expressed from a cow, the pasteurised pinta delivered to your doorstep seems a pale imitation. Unpasteurised raw milk is thicker, creamier and sweeter. It transforms porridge and cereal into something wonderful. It smells nicer and tastes somehow milkier. These are some of the claims you’ll hear from its small but vocal legion of supporters, who insist it is healthier, too. It reduces hay fever, asthma and ...
• The Pro-GMO Lobby’s Latest Scapegoat July 2, 2015 The Pro-GMO Lobby’s Latest Scapegoat Neil Young is Starving the Poor! by COLIN TODHUNTER Not since the original Luddites smashed cotton mill machinery in early 19th century England, have we seen such an organised, fanatical antagonism to progress and science. These enemies of the Green Revolution call themselves ‘progressive’, but their agenda could hardly be more backward-looking and regressive… their policies would condemn billions to hunger, poverty and underdevelopment.” Owen Paterson stated the above earlier this year during a speech he gave in South Africa. Paterson is the former Environment Minister for the UK. Now, a few months on, writing in the New York Post (‘How Neil Young, Greenpeace ...
• Food Security: a Hostage to Wall Street July 2, 2015 Imperialism and the Control of Agriculture by COLIN TODHUNTER In October of last year, World Food Day celebrated ‘Family Farming: Feeding the world, caring for the earth’. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s website, the family farming theme was chosen to raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farmers. The aim was to focus world attention on the significant role of family farming in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, especially in rural areas. Family farming should indeed be celebrated because it really does feed ...
• A neoliberal assault July 2, 2015 Noam Chomsky: Obama Trade Deal A ‘Neoliberal Assault’ To Further Corporate ‘Domination’ The Obama administration’s Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is an “assault,” on working people intended to further corporate “domination,” according to author and activist Noam Chomsky. “It’s designed to carry forward the neoliberal project to maximize profit and domination, and to set the working people in the world in competition with one another so as to lower wages to increase insecurity,” Chomsky said during an interview with HuffPost Live. The Obama administration has been negotiating the TPP pact with 11 other Pacific nations for years. While the deal has not been finalized ...
• Fool me Once July 2, 2015 Fool me Once: Lessons on the TPPA from Free-Trade History http://publicaddress.net We should ask Canada and Mexico whether free trade deals are a good idea.   Last week, Barack Obama’s free-trade deal went from dead in the water to full steam ahead in the space of 24 hours, thanks to last-minute horse trading that saw thirteen Democrats break ranks with the Senate to side instead with Hollywood studies and big pharma. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is still not a fait accompli. It must yet survive a number of proposed amendments, including one by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren to strip out its most controversial language: ...