Editorial: New rural liftout has wide reach

Hawke's Bay today is getting a new rural section.

I am always pleased when this newspaper can bring new value-added content to its readers.

This is one of those occasions. From Thursday, Hawke's Bay Today will launch a new rural section called The Land. It will replace our existing rural liftout Heartland.

We've teamed up with our sister newspapers the Northern Advocate, Rotorua Daily Post, Bay of Plenty Times, Wairarapa Times Age and Wanganui Chronicle, plus the Te Awamutu Courier community newspaper, to make The Land a North Island-wide brand.

And The Land's presence will continue online, with its editorial content featuring across all APN regional websites as part of the nzherald.co.nz network.

We will still continue to have our local news and features written by our rural reporter, Doug Laing, but there will be much more as well. We will bring you national and global topics affecting agriculture and horticulture, investigated by some of New Zealand's top journalists.

We are delighted to be able to announce that Dominic George, the well-known personality from The Radio Network's The Farming Show, will write a weekly column exclusively for The Land. He will cover a wide range of topics from sport to politics and more, always keeping the rural reader in mind.

One of New Zealand's leading business journalists, Fran O'Sullivan, who I worked with at the New Zealand Herald for a number of years, will also write a column every week, turning her authoritative analytical eye to the primary sector. Fran writes on business, politics and international affairs. She is executive editor of Herald Business Reports and manages the high-profile Mood of the Boardroom.

Agrifax, a leading provider of independent information for New Zealand's key agricultural sectors, will provide a weekly package covering export trends, latest commodity prices, exchange rates and a pasture growth index which is not available in any other publication in New Zealand.

So, don't forget to get your copy of this Thursday's Hawke's Bay Today to see The Land and let us know what you think.