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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon meets with local Mid Canterbury farmer, Jason Keeley at Ruralco’s 30th anniversary Instore Days in Ashburton. From left, Ruralco’s On-Farm Sales Manager, Lester Chambers; Mike Cox from Nufarm; Jason Keeley, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, and Ruralco CEO, Tony Aitken.
Over 2000 people, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, attended Ruralco’s Instore days last week.
Ruralco chief executive Tony Aitken, says this year’s 30th anniversary Instore Days, held over two days, provided the perfect platform for farmers to meet with the PM and local Rangitata MP James Meager and hear first-hand from them.
“Ruralco is here for the local community. Our focus is to make farming easier, and we are proud to be a conduit to facilitate opportunities such as the Prime Minister’s visit where our farmers, merchants and local businesses have the chance to speak directly to their Prime Minister,” says Aitken.
“We work hard to create touchpoints with our farmers, and our Instore Days is a particularly important part of that process. To have the Prime Minister in attendance has been a wonderful addition to what was already a significant milestone for our Mid Canterbury based co-operative as we celebrate our 30th Instore Days anniversary.”
A Ruralco statement says local farmers and businesses who spoke with Luxon were impressed with his genuine interest and understanding of the issues facing the primary sector, his knowledge of the region and his personal connections to the area – one of his grandfathers worked at Coldstream Estate, while the other was the principal of Willowby School; his father attended Lowcliffe Primary School; and his wife’s first teaching position was at Tinwald Primary School.
Aitken says the PM’s visit was a wonderful opportunity to highlight how significant Ruralco is to the Mid Canterbury region, and this was evident by the number of people who turned out to connect with Luxon.
Instore Days is always a popular event for local farmers to come to town and to meet and mingle with each other, local businesses, and Ruralco staff to hear first-hand about new technologies, innovations and to access some great deals.
“Ruralco and its local farming community has achieved a lot together over the last 60 years. Today’s visit has definitely been a highlight. We were established in Mid Canterbury in 1963 to support local farmers and that remains our focus as we look to the future,” says Aitken.
OPINION: When he promised an Indian FTA in his first term, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was really putting it all on red for the win. Against the odds (and with help from Todd McClay and others), he has thumbed his nose at the many doubters by closing just such a deal before Christmas – a move that will change the narrative around the PM and could help him win the election.
Primary sector leaders have welcomed the announcement of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and New Zealand.
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