Word of the day

Falsiloquence – lying, deceitful speech.

Thatcher thinks

When you stop selecting by ability you have to select according to some other inevitably less satisfactory criterion. pic.twitter.com/flZ9Ynp2A3

— Margaret Thatcher (@MrsMThatcher) September 23, 2019

Rural round-up

Consultant fulfilling passion for agriculture – Sally Rae:

He might not have ended up pursuing a hands-on farming or shearing career but Guy Blundell has still forged a profession in agriculture.

Mr Blundell is managing director of Compass Agribusiness, an agribusiness advisory, agri asset management and client partnership specialist.

Established a decade ago, it has head offices in both Arrowtown – where he lives – and Melbourne, where his business partner former Otago local Nigel Pannett leads the team, and has just opened a Dunedin office. . .

Fear, anger and mistrust in government at Mystery Creek freshwater meeting – Gerald Piddock:

Hundreds of angry farmers have confronted government officials at an environment roadshow. 

The Government’s freshwater policy reforms consultation event hit Waikato on Monday with over 500 people packing out the venue at Mystery Creek.

What officials heard was mistrust, cynicism and anger about the proposals from the largely rural audience. . .

Hope this is not an omen for today’s MFE meeting at mystery creek.
12-2 at Mystery Creek.
Dust off your town gumboots and get there! pic.twitter.com/pKTtsxz7gv

— Sam Owen (@samueltowen) September 22, 2019

Hawke’s Bay farmer’s heartfelt Facebook post goes viral :

A heartfelt social media post from Hawke’s Bay farmer Sam Stoddart has gone viral. In it he points out the strong connections New Zealand farmers have with the communities around them.

Stoddart told The Country he was surprised by the strong reaction to his post, which has had nearly 6000 reactions and nearly 3000 shares.

“For a vent to mates out of frustration on Facebook it certainly has gained some momentum.

I can’t believe the positive feedback though. For over 700 comments only about five are negative. Maybe the rural urban divide isn’t as big as we think. . .

Fonterra chairman John Monaghan due to step down in 2020 :

Fonterra chairman John Monaghan says he is due to retire next year and will work with the board to plan succession, but the company says he has not made up his mind about whether he will leave.

Monaghan was due to retire by rotation at next year’s annual meeting, at the end of his three-year term. 

“Having seen through the introduction of our new strategy, operating model, and with our divestment and debt reduction efforts well progressed, I will be working with the board in 2020 to facilitate chair succession. The timeline for that succession will be agreed by the board nearer to the time,” Monaghan said on Friday. . .

Food award finalist for preserved apricots in wine – Yvonne O’Hara:

Augustines of Central founder and Food Award finalist Gus Hayden, of Wanaka, is bottling “nostalgia”.

He was delighted and “pretty surprised” when he found out his preserved apricots in riesling and sugar syrup was one of 20 finalists in the Cuisine Artisan section of the New Zealand Food Awards.

Mr Hayden, who is a chef with Cardrona Terraces, Wanaka, uses spray-free apricots from two suppliers on Burn Cottage Rd, Cromwell, and Earnscleugh, near Alexandra. . .

#scottishblackface #isleofiona #nativebreeds #islandfarm pic.twitter.com/du8dqxPTME

— 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 andrew prentice (@maolfold) September 20, 2019

Isn’t it time we stopped commoditising the crap out of everything. – St John Cramer:

Discounting destroys value and has always been a clear signal you’ve run out of ideas. So you end up pulling the crude cord called discounting.

Discounting is rife in Ag because it sometimes seems like it’s the only strategy we have left to compete which is always a race to the bottom.

We haven’t been very smart.

Discounting is disastrous for profits because the profit you didn’t make on that sale has to be replaced by the profit on the next sale. Worse, you condition your customers into lower prices and devalue your market positioning in the process. It also robs your business of the capital it needs to invest and grow in itself. . .

Property rights matter to all

Who’s standing up for property rights?

The Government’s handling of Ihumātao has shown it has no respect for property rights, Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges says. 

“It’s been eight weeks since the Prime Minister told Fletcher Buildings it had to stop developing much needed houses on land that it owns. Since then, Fletchers has not been invited to be part of negotiations. It’s had to sit on the side-line as others have tried to take away its rights.

“It has set an appalling precedent for a Prime Minister to insert herself into the business of a private company and prevent it from building 480 much needed houses.

Does the Prime Minister even have the right to tell a company it can’t go about its lawful business on its own land?

“No wonder business confidence has plummeted when the Prime Minister shows such blatant disregard for businesses and property rights.

“It doesn’t matter where in the world the Prime Minister is, it’s time for her to set the record straight. She needs to tell the protestors to go home, make it clear that the Government won’t be spending taxpayers’ dollars on buying the land and rule out any sort of deal.

“This matter doesn’t concern her. It’s time to butt out and give Fletchers back the land they legally own.”

Jacinda Ardern’s interference has done nothing to solve the problem. It’s made it worse.

If the government gives, or loans, the Iwi anything at all towards purchasing the land, it will open up the opportunity for every other iwi to renegotiate what were supposed to be full and final Treaty settlements.

Worse than that, it has sent a very clear message it doesn’t respect property rights which are a fundamental building block of democracy.

Private property was exempt from treaty settlements for a very good reason. The wrongs treaty settlements were to compensate for were started when Maori property rights were ignored in the past and could not be righted by infringing other people’s, including those of Maori, in the present and future.

Property rights matter for everyone and it is well past the time when the Prime Minister’s interference in Fletchers’ right to exercise theirs must stop.