Editorial: Agri's mojo is back
OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.
MPI is setting out to connect with ‘unconnected’ farmers to make them aware of all the new animal welfare and environmental compliance regulations.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says the government is putting up $3 million over four years to spread the message about the changes.
MPI has the task of communicating with farmers who haven’t been getting these messages from Beef + LambNZ and DairyNZ.
O’Connor says the government wants farmers to move from volume-based production to a value-based system, which requires a high standard of working conditions and sound environmental stewardship. He admits MPI can’t do the communicating itself so it will work with local farm advisory companies and industry-good organisations to get messages across.
He wants MPI to be in contact with 300 farmers NZ-wide in the first year -- those who have not been contacted by a normal advisory service before, he told Rural News.
“They may be the hardest to get to because they have their heads down getting on with their farm work and may not know of the new compliance issues coming up. The aim is to take a lead to help farmers and turn it into a positive engagement rather than forcing compliance on them.”
O’Connor says many farmers see compliance as a threat, but sooner or later dairy and meat companies will demand compliance so those who don’t comply may face severe consequences.
He says traditionally farmers have believed that the bottom 20% of their colleagues ‘will go broke so let’s not worry about them, we’ll just buy their farms’.
“But we can no longer sustain that approach to farming because the 20% who need to lift their game are the ones that tarnish NZ’s image in the international marketplace. We cannot afford to have people who don’t understand what they have to do.”
O’Connor hopes this new approach will work -- supporting farmers to achieve greater sustainability and value in their operations.
This can help lift water quality, improve biosecurity and help NZ meet its greenhouse gas emission targets.”
Newly elected Federated Farmers meat and wool group chair Richard Dawkins says he will continue the great work done his predecessor Toby Williams.
Hosted by ginger dynamo Te Radar, the Fieldays Innovation Award Winners Event put the spotlight on the agricultural industry's most promising ideas.
According to DairyNZ's latest Econ Tracker update, there has been a rise in the forecast breakeven milk price for the 2025/26 season.
Despite the rain and a liberal coating of mud, engines roared, and the 50th Fieldays Tractor Pull Competition drew crowds of spectators across the four days of the annual event.
Nationwide rural wellbeing programme, Farmstrong recently celebrated its tenth birthday at Fieldays with an event attended by ambassador Sam Whitelock, Farmers Mutual Group (FMG), Farmstrong partners, and government Ministers.
Six industry organisations, including DairyNZ and the Dairy Companies Association (DCANZ) have signed an agreement with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to prepare the country for a potential foot and mouth outbreak.
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