Tuesday, 06 July 2021 12:55

$4m state aid for farmers

Written by  Jessica Marshall
Canterbury farmers are dealing with a massiver recovery effort after the recent floods. Canterbury farmers are dealing with a massiver recovery effort after the recent floods.

The Government has announced it will commit $4 million into relief funding for flood-affected Canterbury farmers.

“Our Canterbury farmers are dealing with a massive recovery effort following the recent floods and facing significant costs that aren’t covered by insurance,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

“The flooding has caused widespread and significant damage across a number of districts and recovery efforts are ongoing and considerable.

“It’s clear that extra funding is needed to relieve pressure on farmers who have also been battling drought.”

Associate Agriculture Minister Meka Whaitiri said the region’s farmers and their communities have a large task ahead of them.

“The new funding we’ve announced today should help towards paving the way for ongoing recovery efforts in Canterbury. The Government remains committed to helping them get through,” she said.

DairyNZ says it is reassured to see additional funding delivered.

DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle said the government funding will deliver greater support for farmers who have been significantly impacted by last month's flood event.

“Farmers in Canterbury have had a huge job on their hands cleaning up after the floods earlier this month – many have had paddocks and infrastructure with significant flood damage,” Mackle said.

“This has left farmers with parts of their businesses unable to function or with huge, manual and costly work to be done to clean up and get back to productive capacity.

“Additional funding to support the clean-up is very welcome and we encourage farmers to seek it out. We value the Government’s assistance to the sector.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) says it is working to help drought and flood-affected farmers in Canterbury to find alternative grazing for their livestock.

“I have visited farms where pasture and winter fodder crops have been buried under flood debris,” says MPI’s director of Rural Communities and Farming Support Nick Story.

“This event has been an extremely challenging situation for farmers. The worst affected farms have a need for alternative grazing for their sheep, beef cattle and dairy cows.”

MPI’s Feed Coordination Service has been expanded to help find grazing, distribute donated feed, and connect people with surplus feed to farmers who need it.

“Our feed coordinators had more than 35 additional requests from flood-affected farmers in the first half of June who need grazing and feed,” says Story.

“It’s likely the worst flood-affected paddocks will be unusable for some time, so we expect demand will increase further as we move through the winter.”

More like this

Owl Farm marks 10 years as NZ’s first demonstration dairy farm

In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.

Featured

Nichol is new PGW chair

A day after the ouster of PGG Wrightson’s chair and his deputy, the listed rural trader’s board has appointed John Nichol as the new independent chair.

Fieldays to rebuild Mystery Creek services building

The iconic services building at National Fieldays' Mystery Creek site will be demolished to make way for a "contemporary replacement that better serves the needs of both the community and event organisers," says board chair Jenni Vernon.

National

Machinery & Products

New McHale terra drive axle option

Well-known for its Fusion baler wrapper combination, Irish manufacturer McHale has launched an interesting option at the recent Irish Ploughing…

Amazone unveils flagship spreader

With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Fonterra vote

OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.

Follow the police beat

OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter