increase font size
Make your vote count towards candidates who understand the rural community.
When you exercise your vote in the local body elections in October, make it count towards candidates who understand the rural community.
It is important that farmers get out and vote for candidates who can better represent them. If we don’t it makes the job of Federated Farmers much harder.
The sad truth is the farming community is stuck with an old system of capital-based rateing versus the central government’s existing tax on earnings.
Comparable to other residents, farmers pay a lot of money to fund community services. It feels like we’re the ATM machines that keep councils’ lights on.
As Federated Farmers has argued for many years, land and capital value rates tend to allocate a larger portion of costs for council activities and services to owners of high-value properties.
High country farmers, for example, may own thousands of hectares, which leads to a higher valuation.
However, profitability is lower due to current commodity prices. Competition amongst buyers drives prices up, including overseas buyers after their next prestige asset.
People may be against overseas ownership, but by voting for a council which increases rates or forces excessive conditions upon on these farmers, their cashflows are eroded, making the properties unaffordable to own.
With all of this in mind I’ve put together tips for farmers and common sense advice for potential candidates.
Top tips for voters:
- Understand why your preferred candidate is standing and what they stand for; one-issue activists don’t make great team players.
- Even though some legislation is regulated at central government level, regional councillors have an important role to play in influencing the development and implementation of regional plans.
- Councillors have the freedom to advocate for innovative approaches to maintaining or improving the local community.
- Councillors should accept and recognise that farmers pay more than their fair share of rates.
Top tips for prospective councillors:
- Challenge your council to undertake a rating review with targeted rates and uniform charges.
- Implement hard caps on annual rates increases and focus on reducing and prioritising spending.
- Two-way informed communication is the key to meeting community expectations.
- Where changes in farming practises are required, give farmers realistic compliance timeframes.
- Improving water quality is a local community discussion. Spend upfront in getting the science right to identify the issues correctly and accurately. Put emotions aside.
- Develop policies and methods that are flexible to allow onfarm innovation and provide certainty for decisions and investments.
Remember, every vote counts. If you don’t exercise your right to vote, don’t complain about your rates and councils who don’t play ball.
OPINION: Recent media commentary from Southland Federated Farmers has raised concerns among our rural communities, particularly around Environment Southland’s approach to winter grazing inspections and nitrogen reporting. But let’s be clear, much of what’s been said simply doesn’t reflect reality.
OPINION: Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision recently to declare a so-called “nitrate emergency” is laughable.
A shameless political stunt is how Federated Farmers is describing the Canterbury Regional Council decision to declare “a nitrate emergency” on the back of its latest annual groundwater quality survey.
Federated Farmers say Environment Canterbury's decision to declare a 'nitrate emergency' is a shameless political stunt that won't help anyone.
Farmers want the Government to scrap controversial freshwater rules that "put river spirits and ideology ahead of practical water use", says Federated Farmers board member Mark Hooper.
Acclaimed fruit grower Dean Astill never imagined he would have achieved so much in the years since being named the first Young Horticulturist of the Year, 20 years ago.
The Ashburton-based Carrfields Group continues to show commitment to future growth and in the agricultural sector with its latest investment, the recently acquired 'Spring Farm' adjacent to State Highway 1, Winslow, just south of Ashburton.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.
OPINION: Microplastics are turning up just about everywhere in the global food supply, including in fish, cups of tea, and…
OPINION: At a time when dairy prices are at record highs, no one was expecting the world's second largest dairy…
