Farmer leader pleads with PM for more time

Ben Allomes told Dairy News that the Government has a number of things they want to achieve before the next election and he says most of these seem to be aimed at the primary sector.

These include greenhouse gas emissions, water quality, animal welfare and labour.

Allomes says this is on top of farmers trying to deal with the uncertainties around Covid, such as disrupted supply chains and increasing costs, all of which are creating an uncertain business environment.

He says, as well as trying to run their businesses, farmers are being asked to read massive documents and then give feedback.

"This is consultation at scale and at pace. It is overwhelming and unrealistic for us to be able to give honest democratic feedback on every piece of legislation that they are working on the moment. It is democracy by stealth," he says.

Allomes says the problem is that so many of the proposed changes are very complicated and it's not possible to draw up a simple one page summary of what's involved.

He says the problem is compounded by the bureaucratic way the documents are written and the lack of answers provided in some of them.

"I know that we have to pay the piper at some stage. We have got to do our bit, but when it feels unfair, disorganised, unevenly balanced, to the point we feel we are carrying the load of society with untested science and unknown information they are creating along the way, how can you genuinely feel consulted?

"How can you genuinely believe and trust what they are trying to do is absolutely good for us and society? In my view some of the changes will result in perverse outcomes on our businesses, our communities and the environment," he says.

Allomes says he's changed his business massively in the last ten years to become more environmentally and socially sustainable.

But he contends it takes time and capital and is a long game being played which has impacts way beyond the farm.

"As farmers we have to do our bit and I get upset when farmers try to defend the line of how we used to do things.

"We have to expect and demand change ourselves, because the way we farmed in the past is not fit for purpose for the future.

"The problem is that some people are trying to protect our past rather than looking forward and embracing the new future. But that new future to many of us does not seem fair and equitable and one that will serve future generations," he says.

According to Allomes, farming today is exponentialy much harder than it was ten years ago.

He says, just to achieve what he was achieving 10 years ago takes more head space and energy because there is more recording of compliance, labour, animal welfare and other issues. He says it's also hard to get an accurate assessment on some of the changes with different assessments of the changes being put out by lobby and industry groups.

For Allomes, the objective as a farmer is to produce good and sustainable food and he doesn't hold to the view that NZ should be some sort of 'food bowl' for the world.

But he says farmers get confused when, on the one hand they are being asked to reduce their emissions, then the Government welcomes and celebrates the arrival into NZ of 220 cruise ships. He says in the light of such contradictions and misinformation, farmers lose trust and get suspicious of change.

"My message to Jacinda would be, 'give us the time to let the dust settle and reshuffle our deck to understand what level of resource we need now to run our operating systems going forward'," he says.