The chief scientist of the Environmental Protection Agency has been making waves since her appointment, articulating a pro-farming message around water use. Has agri-business captured our environmental regulator? Outspoken farming critic Rachel Stewart thinks so. Apparently if you don‘t trust the decisions made by the Environmental Protection Agency, you’re part of a growing trend in … Read more
Beef + Lamb NZ’s Nick Beeby responds to a recent Spinoff column predicting that synthetic proteins will lay waste to our farming sector. Food strategist Dr Rosie Bosworth is not wrong in her comment piece about the challenge ‘synthetic’ proteins pose to New Zealand’s agricultural sector – but sheep and beef farmers, and our exporters, … Read more
‘Fake’ animal proteins are set to disrupt world markets – and much faster than our agriculture industry is anticipating, argues food strategist Dr Rosie Bosworth. New Zealand’s agricultural sector has been having a rough time of late. If waking up to a centre-left government wasn’t enough of a nightmare for most Kiwi farmers, then the … Read more
Just a couple of cents? Hardly. The opposition plan to charge for use of irrigation would impose a major burden, and it is hard to see how it would alleviate water quality problems, argues Megan Hands. There is no doubt that water management is top of mind for many of us this election, but none more … Read more
A dark advertisement for a dairy assistant in South Canterbury promised accommodation sharing with rodents, minimum wage, and drug tests. Josh Drummond applied for the role, and investigated what the classified says about the New Zealand dairy industry today. It may not be what you’d think. It started, as so many things do in New Zealand, … Read more
As emitter-in-chief Donald Trump pulls out of the Paris Climate Accord, the time has come for a top-down approach to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Jack Close explains. Environmentalists are quick to sing out about New Zealand’s excessive greenhouse gas emissions – and rightly so. In the large part, we are a gas-guzzling, river-polluting, plastic-bag-wasting … Read more
A new public discussion series explores the link between primary products – dairy, meat, wine and wool – and New Zealand national identity. Victoria University’s Prof Lydia Wevers introduces the series. Every Kiwi baby-boomer remembers having to drink quarter-pint bottles of warm milk at playtime, which at my school had been left outside on the … Read more
Gina Williams’ family has owned the Waikato dairy farm she grew up on for generations, and today they still tend the land with pride. She writes about the other side of the dairy industry, where care for animals and the environment remains paramount. Earlier this month, the current affairs show Sunday aired a segment called … Read more
The government’s Clean Water package quickly became bogged down in claim and counter-claim. What did it really amount to? Jenny Webster-Brown of the Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management demystifies the policy. Last Friday, Nick Smith revealed a target to make 90% of rivers and lakes swimmable by 2040, the key outcome of the government’s proposed … Read more
As New Zealanders’ drift to the city continues, the rural-urban divide grows ever deeper. Instead of writing off the complaints of ‘townies’, those of us in the agricultural industries can’t afford to ignore the increasing calls for action, writes John Hart, farmer and Green candidate. When I was kid in the 1970s, almost everyone I … Read more
Winston Peters is up in arms about fake meat products, accusing them of ‘ripping off’ names traditionally associated with the real thing. Instead of quibbling about labelling, why not seize the opportunity presented by non-meat alternatives, writes Kathryn van Beek. Most of us have our own ways of trying to make the world a better … Read more
Opinion: With falling dairy prices and evaporating rivers, James Dann says it’s time to give Cantabrians back their vote for their regional council. The Key government’s decision to replace the elected council at ECan has been a blot on their record during the dairy boom. Now, with the sector heading south, it looks like one … Read more
In 2013 Chris Pryor and Miriam Smith moved to the small Waikato town of Reporoa to shoot a documentary about the local club rugby team. One year later they emerged with a stunning meditation on what it is to be a farmer, a teammate and a man in rural New Zealand. Don Rowe talks to … Read more