Rewarding farmers who embrace sustainability
Winners of DairyNZ’s Sustainability and Stewardship awards in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards have their eyes firmly fixed on progressing a positive future for New Zealand dairy.
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."
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has informed staff it will cut 391 jobs following a consultation period.