End of war on farming, say farmers
Federated Farmers says changes announced to the Resource Management Act today mark the end of the war on farming.
Dairy industry leaders have welcomed the successful prosecution of a businessman who threatened to spike infant formula with 1080.
Jeremy Kerr, the owner of another pest-control product, Feratox, mixed highly concentrated 1080 with baby milk formula and posted them to Fonterra and to Federated Farmers. Included in the package was a letter demanding the country stop using 1080 or he would release poisoned infant milk powder into the Chinese market
and one unspecified market.
He was jailed last week for eight and a half years by Justice Geoffrey Venning, who said the potential impact of his actions on New Zealand's trade relationship with China and others was "extremely serious".
The threat is believed to have cost Fonterra nearly $20 million and cost Federated Farmers nearly $100,000.
In his victim impact statement, Feds chief executive Graham Smith said Kerr's actions were "a direct threat to the very fabric of society".
The threat could have led to an international ban on NZ food products, he says.
"The 1080 threat had the potential to devastate our ability to successfully operate within these markets and would have cost the country billions of dollars. Customers would have stopped buying and using our products due to their immediate safety concerns."
There was a potential threat to all sectors of society, given NZ's reliance on primary industries, Smith says.
Fonterra chairman John Wilson said Kerr's actions were deplorable and had a huge impact on the cooperative and other food firms.
Fonterra's Maury Leyland says the threat had a big impact on Fonterra and it staff.
"It's hard to imagine a worse threat to children and families, or to the viability of our co-operative, the wider dairy industry and our country," said Leyland, who is Fonterra's outgoing managing director of people, culture and safety.
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.
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