Conveyance Allowance Increase Welcomed by Rural Women
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) and Federated Farmers say they welcome the announcement last week that the Government will increase the conveyance allowance by 30%.
Federated Farmers Waikato president Andrew McGiven believes animal numbers would have to be effectively halved to meet the 2050 target set by the Government's new Zero Carbon Amendment Bill.
He says food producers are very worried about the proposed bill.
“Even more galling is that no trees that farmers have planted in the last two decades to improve water quality and help with other environmental outcomes may be used as an ‘offset’ because the [required] methane cuts are [stated] in gross terms.
“So the only method is to halve the amount of feed to a ruminant animal, but that will in many cases create animal welfare issues.”
McGiven says the Bill showed him “what a complete farce the recent Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) consultation was with industry."
While farmers are unhappy about the unrealistic targets, environment group Greenpeace is also upset with the Zero Carbon Amendment Bill but for different reasons.
Greenpeace executive director Dr Russel Norman says the Bill grants no ability for enforcing its climate change targets.
“What we’ve got here is a reasonably ambitious piece of legislation that’s then had the teeth ripped out of it.”
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North Otago farmer Leilani Lobb has been named the 2026 Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) Regional Leader of the Year.
There's optimism emerging among farmers on the Chatham Islands after years of an irregular and poor shipping service.
Bay of Plenty leader and General Manager of Te Tawa Kaiti Lands Trust, Hinehou Timutimu, has been announced as the 2026 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
A large-scale modern orchard development in coastal Mid-Canterbury is expected to eventually produce 116 million apples a year from 900,000 trees while also becoming a significant employer for the region.
Silver Fern Farms has announced a major capital investment valued at over $100 million to redevelop freezing, cold storage, and automation facilities at its Finegand Site near Balclutha.