Federated Farmers welcome court ruling on genetic modified crop A Western Australian Court of Appeal ruling on genetically modified (GM) crop liability has been welcomed by Federated Farmers as a landmark decision which clearly sets out fundamental responsibilities of good neighbours that apply equally well in New Zealand and around the farming world. In 2014, […]
Taking the Long View Think global, act local: The Papamoa Library & Community Centre and the green-star rated offices of Sharp Tudhope Lawyers, both in Tauranga, are examples of buildings designed to minimise their impact on the environment during construction and in operation. ~~~ By Gord Stewart Doing it Right – Locally “Think globally, act […]
TOLERANCE OF GOVERNMENT INEPTITUDE By Frank Rowson How much longer do the public have to tolerate the inefficiencies and dereliction of duty shown recently by the Ministry of Primary Industry (MPI) in the kauri log scenario? On its own this failure could perhaps be tolerated, but when it is in addition to a whole range […]
Barber’s Wire: Saudi sheep farming venture a dog’s breakfast Posted on June 19, 2015 It’s hard to imagine what on earth the government was thinking when it agreed to buy off a Saudi Arabian businessman Hmood al-Ali al-Khalaf to the tune of $11 million because it hoped he would stop objecting to a Gulf States […]
Posted on June 19, 2015 by Keith Woodford Prior to this week, I had no particular knowledge about the current shipment of 50,000 ewe lambs that are heading to Mexico. So when I was approached by Jamie Ball from the NBR for comment, my immediate thought was to say nothing. I simply assumed that this […]
Protocol over live animal exports to Saudi Arabia marks progress in trading relations Posted in Rural News [1] March 05, 2014 – 12:06pm, Jeff Smith [2] A New Zealand demonstration farm here? A photograph I took some two years before I wrote this article. The Government has moved a step closer to negotiating a […]
Managing the dairy downturn Posted on May 27, 2015 by Keith Woodford It is still far from clear whether we have reached the bottom of the dairy price cycle. The Chinese seem to be coming back into the market but no one much else is. But even if prices do start to rise in the next […]
US Agribusiness, GMOs and the Plundering of the Planet by COLIN TODHUNTER Small family/peasant farms produce most of the world’s food. They form the bedrock of global food production. Yet they are being squeezed onto less than a quarter of the planet’s farmland. The world is fast losing farms and farmers through the concentration of land […]
photo by David Unwin/Fairfax NZ Federated Farmers dairy chairman Andrew Hoggard. OPINION: Several weeks ago, we had academic paper that was published in a minor American journal that basically stated the cost of the dairy industry to New Zealand equalled what it was worth. So that it was a zero sum game. While a number […]
Barber’s Wire: MPI risks loss of focus on food safety and biosecurity Posted on May 15, 2015 Most people would almost certainly see the primary role of Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) as the protection of New Zealand’s biosecurity, food safety and primary production. The creation of MPI was designed to meet a number of […]