increase font size
Feds vice president Anders Crofoot was pleased to see extra funding for R&D, biosecruity and agtraining in the Budget.
The wider agribusiness sector has nailed its share of loot in the recent Budget – with extra money for R&D, training, irrigation, animal welfare and biosecurity.
In a Budget which gave away little, there were some surprises – most notably the $25 million over five years to fund ‘regional research institutes’.
According to the Minister for Science and Innovation, Steven Joyce, the Government will work with regional stakeholders to identify where the new institutes will be located and what they will do. Joyce quotes the example of the Cawthron Institute in Nelson, which has a focus on aquaculture, marine biosecurity and coastal and freshwater ecology.
It’s assumed that horticulture, including kiwifruit in the Bay of Plenty, may get the nod, possibly biosecurity in Auckland, dryland farming on the East Coast and just maybe something for Northland where jobs and votes are scarce.
In the science area Callaghan Innovation gets more cash, which spills into the agritech area, and there’s more for science in society with the aim of lifting New Zealanders’ engagement with science.
Biosecurity is a big winner: an extra $24.9 million for biosecurity over four years and an extra $2 million to pay for security at the border. Also, a levy of $16 per person entering the country and $6 departing imposes a user-pays onus on travellers – a move welcomed by the agri sector. HortNZ, BLNZ and the Meat Industry Association say the new levy is fair and sensible and sheets home the cost to the people who pose a risk to the nation’s biosecurity.
Irrigation projects will also get $25 million over five years from 2016-17.This will pay for investigating and developing regional irrigation schemes, says the Minister for Primary Industries, Nathan Guy. He says the Irrigation Accelerator Fund has the potential to develop irrigation schemes which will boost exports and create jobs in the regions.
Good, conservative budget – Feds
Feds vice-president Anders Crofoot says, from a farmer’s perspective, it was a good, conservative Budget.
He was pleased to see extra dollars assigned to R&D, but was surprised at the plan to set up research institutes in the regions.
The details and the eventual outcomes will be interesting, he says, but he’d be concerned if research was spread too thinly. He notes R&D money is now in ‘lots of buckets’ and he’s not sure this is a good idea.
Crofoot was also pleased with the extra money for agricultural training. “That push into more funding for higher education in agriculture is going to stand us in good stead,” he told Rural News.
“And the levy on air travel is a good way of sheeting home some of the costs to where the risks actually occur. As more people fly by air this levy will, in effect, make biosecurity self-funding, as opposed to NZ taxpayers having to pay for the increasing demand for biosecurity.”
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.
A new $50,000 scholarship fund designed to support and empower women in the New Zealand dairy industry through leadership development has been launched.
Many farmers around the country are taking advantage of the high dairy payout to get maximum production out of their cows.
In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.
Sheep milk processor Maui Milk is on track to record average ewe production of 500 litres by 2030, says outgoing chief executive Greg Hamill.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton is calling for cross-party consensus on the country's overarching environmental goals.
Changes to New Zealand’s postal service has left rural communities disappointed.
OPINION: Ageing lefty Chris Trotter reckons that the decision to delay recognition of Palestinian statehood is more than just a fit…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly recently met someone at a BBQ who works at a big consulting firm who spent…
