FEBRUARY 11, 2025
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Many kilometres of tar-sealed country roads around New Zealand could be downgraded to gravel as councils struggle to source adequate funding for maintaining routes.
Southland District Council is already facing the prospect of having sections of three rural roads reverted to gravel, with the council unable to source sufficient funds to meet spiralling maintenance costs. READ IT HERE
What’s leading theonconversation the front page of WeeklyFarmers this
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Tim Gilbertson
Ōtāne
A great many people, Federated Farmers among them, have the idea that the current government is the most farmer friendly for years. The evidence hardly supports them.
One of many examples of the government’s indifference to the rural sector was the prime minister’s recent proposal to encourage and expand overseas students and tourism as engines for economic growth.
Both rely on air travel. Depending on which set of figures you use, transport contributes roughly 40% of greenhouse gases. Airlines make up 10% of those emissions.
Click to watch Cyclone Gabrielle On Farm Story What our audience are telling us this week
So increasing students and tourism will worsen climate change, meaning more extreme weather events: more floods, droughts and fires. Hardly farmer friendly.
Two years ago I watched as my hillsides were devastated, my farm tracks disintegrated and my fences floated off down the Tukituki River during Cyclone Gabrielle. And I was comparatively unscathed.
The PM’s fossil fuel-heavy solution is not just unfriendly, it is distinctly anti farming.
To read the full letter to the editor click on the link below.
https://issuu.com/farmersweeklynz/docs/farmers_ weekly_nz_february_10_2025/14
This week on the Farmers Weekly podcast Bryan talks with senior AgrHQ analyst Mel Croad about what the year has in store for red meat markets; Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Toby Williams discusses how the government’s latest emissions reduction target signs us up for another 10 years of tree planting; and Bryan looks at farm succession planning with his new segment titled ‘The final word’.
On the Farmers Weekly podcast this week
Markets | Mel Croad on NZ’s promising red meat returns
Feds | Federated Farmers on the importance of balancing the carbon budget
The Final Word | A new segment by host Bryan Gibson
We really needed to see that injection of upside in prices to give a bit of confidence to the industry.
– Mel Croad, AgriHQ, Episode: 2025 starts with a bang for red meat returns, 7 February 2025
There’s no shortage of tasty advertising in this week’s Farmers Weekly as brands and farmers alike throw their support behind National Lamb Day.
From a kid chowing into a lamb skewer on the front page of the paper, to a full-page showcase of a carefully handpicked lamb cut, the types of Lamb Day advertising on display this year are as versatile as the meat is.
But the ad that takes the cake, or in this case the chop, is the full-page National Lamb Day ad from FMG. They’ve leaned right into the day’s theme of ‘raising a chop’ to farmers with the same kind of playfulness that saw Meat & Livestock Australia attract 4.7 million Youtube views to their latest TV commercial.
It’s the credible paper. People trust Farmers Weekly.
Toby Williams Chairperson, Meat and Wool Industry Group
What content is coming up in Farmers Weekly or on farmersweekly.co.nz
FEBRUARY 18 - 19, 2025
Reporter Richard Rennie is off to Brisbane for EvokeAg, one of the leading agrtitech events of the year, from February 18-19.
The 2025 theme, Common Ground, calls for the global agrifood tech and innovation community to unite and drive real impact for a more sustainable, productive and profitable future for our food systems.
You’ll find Richard’s coverage of the event, later in the month in Farmers Weekly and on farmersweekly.co.nz
FEBRUARY
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What’s hot, and what’s not in rural media here overseasand
Sports Entertainment Network NZ (SENZ) never really felt like it connected with kiwis when it entered the radio market in 2021.
But a clever rebrand (SENZ is now Sport Nation) and an easy to use new app is changing that equation. The app is one of the better examples of how to get niche news delivery right. And it also makes Andy Thompson’s Rural Roundup, which was kind of lost in obscurity, easy to find and listen to.
Decent recipe, poorly cooked.
That’s the best way to sum up Beef + Lamb’s new video that aims to respond to Australian Lamb’s viral commercial, currently clocking over 4.7 million views on YouTube.
Good on Matt Chisholm, Julia Jones and co for having some fun and being creative.
But this, sadly, is evidence that some recipes shouldn’t make it out of the kitchen until they’re perfected.
