increase font size
Andrew Hoggard says claims that New Zealand dairy farmers are subsidised are false.
Andrew Hoggard says claims that New Zealand dairy farmers are subsidised are false.
He says detractors of the dairy industry like to claim we are subsidised because of the negative externalities of our industry.
"To them I point out that in Europe those farmers get support payments for environmental issues whereas NZ farmers meet the full cost of those initiatives; the joint Federated Farmers – DairyNZ survey found that in the last decade NZ farmers had [spent about] $1 billion in environmental initiatives.
"People may also point to the irrigation fund as a subsidy. But when you have to pay it back it's called a loan not a subsidy."
Hoggard says he has seen plenty of other comments that NZ increased its production during the last decade, so why can't others?
"Yes, we increased our production but we did so based on the economic reality. The market, through increased prices, said it wanted more dairy, so we responded with increased production. Right now the market is saying the opposite, and at this stage we have responded and our production is down -- though with all this rain many of you... have received we may not be down by as much as predicted.
"If Europe wants to have a social welfare system for tractor driving beneficiaries that's its business but it becomes our business when that system has distorting and negative effects on world trade."
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
OPINION: The dairy sector has been told that it cannot afford to rest on its laurels.
The dairy industry cannot rest on its laurels despite providing one in every four export dollars earned by the country, says DairyNZ chief executive Campbell Parker.
Increased competition for water means the whole community is looking at how irrigators use water.
Analysis of decades of research has revealed the implementation of good farming practices plays a critical role in reducing nutrient losses to improve freshwater outcomes.
New Zealand dairy farmers are set to be the first in the world to receive access to a new digital physical milk pricing tool that enables them to fix the price for their physical milk.
State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.
A five-year study has found that the cost of reducing emissions without technology may be significant and unsustainable for Northland dairy farmers.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
While the Government has moved quickly to make commercial hauliers' lot easier during the current fuel crisis, they appear to be stuck in the creep box when it comes to the agricultural industry.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.
OPINION: No one messes around with Winston Peters, more so in a general election year.
OPINION: Staying on Federated Farmers, this week's annual general meeting in Auckland is shaping up to be an interesting one.
