Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Focus on the various farming plans put out this week, concerns raised about contacts of new positive Covid cases, and huge bill coming for Wellington region water. For a lead story today, a look at the various farming policies that will be taken into the … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Mixed messages on freshwater regulations, Christchurch gunman won’t address court, and an important story about what happens after a positive Covid-19 test. National leader Judith Collins has told a Facebook live chat that the government’s freshwater regulations will be “gone by lunchtime” if National wins. As Stuff’s Henry … Read more
Despite global economic uncertainly, a new report shows New Zealand’s land-based industry exports are humming – with plenty of it still going to the world’s most populous country. What’s all this then? Much of New Zealand’s economy might still be spluttering from the fallout of Covid-19, but exports of meat, dairy and horticulture products have … Read more
Could a taiao values approach to our economy be the key to bridging the gap between protecting our environment and prospering as people? Dr Amanda Black from the Bio-Protection Research Centre explains how. Aotearoa has been economically dependent on our primary sector for generations. But in this new Covid-19-framed world, that dependence will be magnified. … Read more
The world will always need food, and New Zealand is enviably positioned to capitalise on this, writes future foods expert Rosie Bosworth – but we need to take a few big steps first. It’s a bittersweet moment for New Zealand. As a nation we’ve collectively worked hard to successfully flatten the curve (for now). But … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Andrea Watson, Sparrows CEO and founder, and Simon Yarrow, who leads Callaghan Innovation’s agritech team. Agricultural exports are … Read more
Plant-based food producers ‘stigmatise and demonise’ traditional agriculture, according to Jones, but those working in the new industry say it should be seen as an opportunity, not a threat. NZ First minister Shane Jones’ suggestion that plant-based food must be “stopped in its tracks” has been labelled concerning, negligent and anti-competitive by proponents of the … Read more
After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, Cuba embarked on a rapid reorientation of its agricultural system to a self-sustaining, biointensive and essentially organic model. Nearly 30 years on, a Canterbury vegetable grower ponders whether Aotearoa could follow its lead. It’s November 2016, less than a week after the election of Donald Trump, and I’m … Read more
Summer has begun and the forecast is: it’s hot and breezy and wet and dry. We explain what’s going on, and what you can expect over the coming months. A cloudless sky rains down on dry soil, and children play in the hot puddles. Every night you put the laundry in the oven, grab a … Read more
Condemning agriculture and tarring all farmers with the same brush does nothing to further environmentalists’ cause, argues Adam Currie. Are there simply too many cows in our country? Or are urbanites just aggressively exacerbating the farming crisis from their sterile offices? The inconvenient truth is that both are true. We urgently need to change our … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Minister wants winter grazing cleaned up before next season, elite figures wade into port debate, and golfers win Chamberlain Park fight. Environmental and animal welfare concerns have been at the forefront of a hard hitting report on winter grazing. It came from a taskforce convened by agriculture … Read more
Jenée Tibshraeny of interest.co.nz surveys the issues that have farmers worried right now, and looks at the facts behind the fears. Rumblings from the dairy farming sector are becoming increasingly loud, as both the Government and Reserve Bank (RBNZ) make policy changes that affect the sector. New Zealand has for years milked its white gold … Read more
A quiet revolution is growing on New Zealand farms. As debates on water and emissions grind on, a new group of farmers are showing us the way forward – regenerating the land, and themselves, writes Daniel Eb. Mum has a saying: when you’re boxed into a corner, move the walls. It’s a reference to … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Reaction to the government’s agriculture emissions deal, formal apology made for Parihaka, and union fuming over unpunished trucking abuses. Agricultural organisations and the government have agreed on a plan for the industry to self-regulate on emissions reduction. Here’s a cheat sheet on the agreement, which … Read more
The prime minister has hailed a ‘historic’ agreement between the government and farming groups. What does it amount to, and is it a substantial step forward in the climate fight, or a ‘sellout’? What’s all this then? For as long as the Emissions Trading Scheme has existed, it has been dogged by the fact that … Read more
Otago-grown agricultural technology company Techion has cornered an international market. Its founder, Greg Mirams, explained how the internet of things and fast fibre broadband has transformed the way he does business. In a Dunedin bedroom in 1992, Greg Mirams invented Techion’s founding product: FEKPAKG2. It was developed to help local farmers test the effectiveness of … Read more
If we want to assure our export markets and tourists that we are actually a clean sustainable country, we actually have to prove it, writes freshwater ecologist Russell Death. According to some in the agricultural industry, the sky will fall on New Zealand agriculture if the government’s new freshwater policy becomes law. Consumers will no … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: How electorate boundaries could change, plans to bring agriculture into the ETS stall, and another scandal hits state care abuse Royal Commission. Electorate boundary changes look set to make a few of Labour’s South Island strongholds a little less safe, reports Elena McPhee of the ODT. Both … Read more
Experts are warning that the legalisation of cannabis could increase the levels of contamination in other crops and impact our trade relationships, writes Zac Fleming. Warnings have been raised with the government that New Zealand’s trade relationships could be compromised by food contaminated with cannabis if the plant is legalised. On at least four occasions … Read more
Covering Climate Now: Just how much of an impact would a shift to vegetarian diets have on the battle to halt climate change, asks Mirjam Guesgen. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here! Kiwi cuisine is replete with meat: fish and chips, meat and three veg, steak … Read more
Covering Climate Now: Earlier this year, the climate change response (zero carbon) bill had its first reading. The public was then invited to submit their takes on it to the government. We assessed a few of the stranger ones. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us … Read more
National’s new agriculture spokesperson finds himself in one of the party’s most important portfolios, at a time of dramatically increasing tensions in the sector. Will Todd Muller, a man regularly mentioned as a future leader contender, find common ground? Todd Muller’s obsession with politics began with an American encyclopaedia, which his parents bought from a … Read more
While the debate around methane continues to stink up the place, we are ignoring countless different ways to protect our food security in the future, writes climate activist Melanie Vautier. Agriculture is a huge and important topic in climate mitigation, in adaptation, in our very survival in terms of food supply. I went along to … Read more
A team of Kiwi scientists is using pictures taken by satellites in orbit to enable farmers to spot pollution on their land. New Zealand scientists are looking to put satellite imagery to good use by identifying pollution on Kiwi farms, helping make tomorrow a tiny bit greener. University of Auckland’s Intelligent Vision System lab (IVS) … Read more
Will we ever really adopt electric vehicles? Should we believe oil companies that say they want to help? Clean energy expert Michael Liebreich gives his two cents. Not that long ago, the concept of “clean energy” seemed like a wildly radical idea. Few people cared or even knew about the dangers of climate change and … Read more
An urban farm in Auckland has been raising cows for meat for years. This time, they decided to involve the community in the process – but the backlash was so intense, the plan was canned. Alice Neville talks to those involved about what went down, and what we can learn from the saga. A sprawling, … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Kate Gwilliam, CEO of feedstock solution Zeddy. … Read more
New Zealand has lagged behind the rest of the world in its attitude to hemp, but now innovative businesses are tapping into the nutritional benefits of this ancient crop. A pharmacist and a banker selling hemp? It sounds like some kind of dodgy drug deal. It’s not though: it’s the leading edge of the hemp … Read more
Cultured meat could solve some of the world’s biggest problems. So why is it such a hard sell? Matti Wilks is a postdoctoral research associate in psychology at Yale University. The world is in the grips of a food-tech revolution. One of the most compelling new developments is cultured meat, also known as clean, cell-based … Read more