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Richard McIntyre.
Federated Farmers, MPI, FMG and DairyNZ are all busy this week trying to work out how best to manage Gypsy Day.
The day, on June 1, is when share milkers, contract milkers and staff traditionally move to new properties.
Chairman of Feds sharemilkers section, Richard McIntyre says Gypsy Day is a complicated enough day – without the added problem of COVID-19.
He’s been getting numerous phone calls from sharemilkers concerned about how the day will run.
McIntyre says part of the problem is that no one knows what Alert Level will be in place on that day.
The group working on the project are having to come up with a range of solutions to meet some unknown eventualities. McIntyre says it is not just the physical moving of people and animals to new farms, but also the associated paperwork and the checking that previous contractual arrangements have been met.
McIntyre says the aim is get an agreement that causes the least disruption but also meets the COVID-19 requirements.
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Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
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