It’s been a tough few weeks for think-big irrigation and industrial agriculture. As a bit of background for those not familiar with plans for even more industrial dairying around New Zealand - the Government is throwing over ...

The proposed Ruataniwha Dam is the poster child of Big Irrigation.   It stands as a symbol of the Government's agenda to prop up industrial dairying despite the fact that it’s poisoning our waterways and indebting farmers. ...

“Ojos hacen fe.” Those are the words of Lucy Martín, an inspiring Cuban researcher with Oxfam in Havana. She has lived through decades of change in Cuba, while remaining grounded in the reality of farmers there. She uses...

At this point most people know about neonicotinoids and the serious risk they pose to honey bees. Bees are a link in a chain of biodiversity and pollination of incredible value to our food production. Up to 75% of our crops directly...

It’s often said that domestic opinion doesn’t count for much in this country. Watch though, as heads turn and lattes spill when that same opinion comes from across the water. It’s our endearing lack of self confidence and charming...

In the winter of 2017, I received a call from a colleague about a small community in the Hungarian countryside, far from the busy streets of Budapest, that needed help. A Lutheran organisation had just launched a project with disabled...

You've got to feel sorry for the dairy leadership. Well you do. They're in mourning. Grief is the only way to explain the strange and conflicting messages coming out of DairyNZ and the Federated Farmers over the last six months. Could...

I'm inside a pipe on the Canterbury Plains with Olga from Greenpeace. We each have an arm secured into a tube inside a two and a half metre irrigation pipe. We're in a ditch between the Rakaia and Waimakariri Rivers. Our pipe is one of...

The day started early, or late, depending on your perspective. We met the night before in Christchurch. People had travelled from across New Zealand at a moment’s notice - one group had even driven from Dunedin. The energy was high.