Bruce Cotterill: Butter backlash overlooks farming’s crucial economic role

It seems that we’re going batty over butter.

In case you’ve missed it, it’s the price of the stuff that has everyone’s attention. That price has rocketed upwards over the past 12 months as global demand for our product influences the price point at home.

Roger Partridge: Govt sending a dangerous signal to business investors with butter dramas

Finance Minister Nicola Willis described last week’s meeting with Fonterra’s chief executive as “routine.” But routine meetings do not usually begin with public promises that a CEO will “front up” over pricing. Nor do they require clarification in Parliament, a prime-time media round, and a CEO pursued up the steps of Parliament by a television news crew. This saga was not just about butter. It was about business confidence.

Dr Eric Crampton: Buttering up a slippery slope

You might not remember 2025, even though it’s only two decades ago. AI was only just getting started. Looking back, it is easy to tell where the path back to price setting boards started.

This was before synthetic fermentation, when New Zealand still exported a lot of butter and global markets set the price. Whenever butter prices dropped, consumers barely noticed. Whenever they rose, people screamed.

Mike Hosking: Is the butter debate really supermarkets ripping us off?

I hope you are following the butter debate, specifically the Costco part of it.

Why? Because it's an insight into how the world works, especially the economic world, and why Nicola Willis and her crusade to convince us supermarkets are ripping us off might be wrong.