increase font size
Federated Farmers is taking the fight for the future of New Zealand sheep farming to the streets of Wellington, with bold digital billboards visible directly from Ministers’ Beehive offices.
Government ministers cannot miss the ‘SOS’ – save our sheep call - from New Zealand farmers.
Farmer lobby, Federated Farmers is taking the fight for the future of New Zealand sheep farming to the streets of Wellington, with bold digital billboards visible directly from Ministers’ Beehive offices.
The message to politicians is clear and concise: sheep are not the problem - stop planting productive farmland in pine trees for carbon credits.
"We wanted this campaign to be bold and directly in politicians’ faces. That’s the only way we’re going to get their attention," Federated Farmers meat & wool chair Toby Williams says.
"Sheep farming is in crisis. We need the Government to urgently wake up to the impact poor policy is having on our farming families and rural communities.
"Each year we’re losing tens of thousands of hectares of productive farmland.
"Where sheep and lambs once grazed there’s now nothing but pine trees as far as the eye can see."
Between 2017 and 2024, more than 260,000 hectares of productive sheep farming land were plastered in pine trees - never to return to pasture.
In just one generation New Zealand has lost over two-thirds of our national flock, reducing from over 70 million sheep in 1982 to fewer than 25 million sheep today.
"Our national flock is declining by almost a million sheep every year and the number one driver is carbon forestry," Williams says.
"Farms are being converted to forestry because Government policy is screwing the scrum and making it more profitable to plant pine trees than to farm sheep.
"The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is effectively subsidising pine trees to offset fossil fuel emissions, and that’s pushing farming families off the land and destroying rural communities."
New Zealand is the only country in the world that allows 100% carbon offsetting through forestry, with other countries recognising the risk and putting restrictions in place.
Federated Farmers is now calling on the Government to urgently review the ETS and fix the rules to either limit or stop the offsetting of fossil fuel emissions with forestry.
People can sign the petition at www.saveoursheep.nz
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
Federated Farmers says the final report into banking competition is a significant step forward for rural New Zealand - and a vindication of the farming sector's concern.
Alliance Group's proposal to sell a 65% shareholding to Ireland's Dawn Meats won't solve the red meat industry's structural problems, says former Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Toby Williams.
Farmer lobby group Federated Farmers has announced it is supporting a new Member’s Bill which it says could bring clarity to New Zealand farmers and save millions in legal costs.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.
