Avian flu poses top biosecurity threat to NZ, says Hoggard
Avian flu getting into New Zealand's poultry industry is the biosecurity threat that is most worrying for Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard.
Current president Katie Milne will automatically step down after spending three years in the role.
Hoggard confirmed to Dairy News that he will be throwing his hat in the ring.
The Manawatu farmer has been involved in the federation for many years in various roles and has played a leadership role in dealing with some difficult and controversial issues. One of these was, and still is Horizons Regional Councils ‘One plan’ which seeks to put significant pressure on dairy farmers in the region.
Hoggard is an equity partner and manager of the family farm north of Feilding. The farm runs 560 cows, split into two herds on the 220ha property. He has an agricultural economics degree from Massey University and is a fourth generation dairy farmer. Originally the family farmed near Upper Hutt near Wellington but moved up to the Manawatu in 1998.
Hoggard regards himself a supporter of the free market and as he puts it ‘I’m not into government running everything’. But while he has strong free market views he does believe that government does have a role in kick starting major infrastructure projects such as irrigation schemes.
He says before June he has to sort out the arrangements on his own farm and make sure everything is structured right, given that the role traditionally requires the president to frequently be in Wellington or other parts of the country or the world.
“I have spent god only knows how many years in feds now and it doesn’t sit well with me not to finish off what I started. I am definitely keen on doing the job, but who know someone else may decide they want to do it and get the backing of others. But I will put my name foreword at this stage because this has been my passion for the last few years,” he says.
