Editorial: Optimism all around
OPINION: Two reports out last week confirm that the worst may be over for pastoral farmers.
OPINION: Farmers are rightly urging the Government to relax the rules around KiwiSaver and allow young farmers to use their savings towards purchasing either a house, cows or a farm.
After all, National’s agriculture spokesman Todd McClay, on the eve of the last general election, told farmers in Morrinsville that a National-led Government would let young farmers use their KiwiSaver as part of a deposit to buy a farm, or sharemilking herd or for a flock, to help them get on the ownership ladder.
He said people in towns could use KiwiSaver for their first home deposit, but in rural New Zealand, this wasn’t possible.
“This just seems wrong, and the next National Government will fix it,” McClay told farmers back then.
Now Federated Farmers wants the Government to deliver on that pre-election promise.
According to Feds, the announcement was incredibly popular, particularly among the next generation of farmers, but also with older farmers who are looking for succession pathways.
The federation points out that while National MP Suze Redmayne has since submitted a Members’ Bill that would address some of the issues young farmers face, it is but one of more than 70 bills in the Members’ Ballot – effectively a raffle – and her bill may never be drawn.
Federated Farmers national board member Richard McIntyre claims that having a Members’ Bill in the biscuit tin doesn’t even come close to delivering on their campaign promise.
He wants McClay and all rural MPs to really get in behind farmers and push hard on this issue.
With the National Fieldays around the corner, it may be a good venue for the Prime Minister, and McClay to finally deliver on their party’s election promise.
On the eve of his departure from Federated Farmers board, Richard McIntyre is thanking farmers for their support and words of encouragement during his stint as a farmer advocate.
A project reducing strains and sprains on farm has won the Innovation category in the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards 2025.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), in partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and other sector organisations, has launched a national survey to understand better the impact of facial eczema (FE) on farmers.
One of New Zealand's latest and largest agrivoltaics farm Te Herenga o Te Rā is delivering clean renewable energy while preserving the land's agricultural value for sheep grazing under the modules.
Global food company Nestle’s chair Paul Bulcke will step down at its next annual meeting in April 2026.
Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki has been announced as the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the National Sustainability Showcase at in Wellington this evening.
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