increase font size
Rob Brazendale.
Mind your negative language to farmers: that’s the message to rural professionals dealing with dairy farmers in the lower North Island.
But this is not a complaint about rural professionals swearing or using abusive language; rather it is about the words they use when talking to farmers about the state of the industry and related issues.
Rural professionals met recently to discuss low morale among dairy farmers in the lower North Island. Rob Brazendale, of DairyNZ, says they were trying to determine the causes of low morale.
“We identified things such as the increasing compliance costs, uncertainty about milk companies, negative rhetoric coming from central government about the industry and the land market being pretty flat; all these are impacting on low farmer morale. A lot of farmers are feeling quite despondent,” he says.
Brazendale says the group asked themselves whether they were adding to the low morale or countering it by their interactions with farmers. They concluded that they should be positive about the future and not put negative connotations on issues.
The group, which includes bankers, retailers, accountants, farm advisors, vets and others, are regularly in touch with farmers and often they pick up things farmers say and this can be negative.
“We have to look at our language and how we use it and how we frame questions. We have to put things in perspective and try to talk about the good things in the industry.”
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
DairyNZ has pulled together tactics that will help farmers improve on-farm efficiency and have positive benefits for the environment. These tactics are based on research, data, and lessons from leading farmers.
The design and construction of an effective dairy effluent system is a complex process.
After serving three as a DairyNZ director, Waikato farmer Chris Lewis is ready for another term.
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
'Common sense' cuts to government red tape will make it easier for New Zealand to deliver safe food to more markets.
Balclutha farmer Renae Martin remembers the moment she fell in love with cows.
Academic freedom is a privilege and it's put at risk when people abuse it.
OPINION: Should cows in NZ be microchipped?
OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…
