increase font size
Federated Farmers' spokeswoman on local government, Katie Milne.
Farmers are being urged to get involved in the upcoming local authority elections.
Federated Farmers' spokeswoman on local government, Katie Milne, says local government elections are vitally important for farming on many levels, and she is encouraging farmers to make their voices heard.
"It is crucial that farmers get involved in holding their councils to account. This includes being engaged on the issues and when the time comes making an informed vote.
"It’s also important that we get good candidates, including farmers and other business-minded people, to stand for election," she says.
"It’s a challenging role but farmers can make a difference on councils, informing and educating [other councilors] about what happens on-farm, which is crucial for getting sensible, workable outcomes."
Milne says that the way local government is funded, by property value based rates, has a big impact on farms' financial viability.
"The average farm now pays well over $10,000 per year in rates and rates are often in the top half dozen farm expenses. As a fixed cost there is no way for farms to cut it back, short of selling up, during downturns like the current one."
Local Government NZ has published a guide for candidates, and has launched a campaign to boost flagging voter numbers.
Federated Farmers will produce a local elections manifesto on key issues farmers and candidates should think about.
According to the latest Federated Farmers banking survey, farmers are more satisfied with their bank and less under pressure, however, the sector is well short of confidence levels seen last decade.
OPINION: Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ to highlight the most troublesome farm pests – a serious issue that needs some urgent attention from the Beehive.
Farmers are welcoming the announcement of two new bills to replace the under-fire Resource Management Act.
The Government has announced it will immediately roll over all resource consents for two years, with legislation expected to pass under urgency as early as this week.
Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping "The Twelve Days of Christmas" for "The Twelve Pests of Christmas" in an effort to highlight the most troublesome farm pests.
Grace Su, a recent optometry graduate from the University of Auckland, is moving to Tauranga to start work in a practice where she worked while participating in the university's Rural Health Interprofessional Programme (RHIP).
Two farmers and two farming companies were recently convicted and fined a total of $108,000 for environmental offending.
According to Ravensdown's most recent Market Outlook report, a combination of geopolitical movements and volatile market responses are impacting the global fertiliser landscape.
Environment Canterbury, alongside industry partners and a group of farmers, is encouraging farmers to consider composting as an environmentally friendly alternative to offal pits.
A New Zealand dairy industry leader believes the free trade deal announced with India delivers wins for the sector.
The Coalition Government will need the support of at least one opposition party to ratify the free trade deal with India.
President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on imports into the US is doing good things for global trade, according…
Seen a giant cheese roll rolling along Southland’s roads?
