Bye bye Paris?
OPINION: At its recent annual general meeting, Federated Farmers’ Auckland province called for New Zealand to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Federated Farmers supports a review of the current genetic technology legislation but insists that a farmer’s right to either choose or reject it must be protected.
Feds president Wayne Langford appeared before the parliamentary health select committee to present Federated Farmers’ views on the use of genetic technologies.
“We know this is a hot topic with our members, so I was very upfront with the politicians that farmers’ views on this issue are about as diverse as our individual farming systems,” Langford says.
He noted that many Feds members are in support of reforms, some are neutral, and others are firmly opposed.
“That’s why I put a real focus in my submission on protecting a farmer’s right to choose,” he says.
Langford says Federated Farmers operate a democratic voting system driven from the grassroots up, not from the top down, and “we’ve taken the same approach in forming our view on this issue”.
“After a lot of debate, delegates from our 24 provinces who sit on our National Council agreed to support a review of the current legislation and advocate for the benefits of genetic technology.
“That being said, we also put a very clear condition on that support: that an individual farmer’s right to choose must be protected.
“This means, as much as practicable, there need to be controls or systems put in place to block the spread of GE organisms onto properties of farmers who don’t want it.”
Langford notes that other countries, like Australia, have gone through similar reform. They now have growing rather than shrinking GE-free and organics industries, farming alongside use of GE crops, he points out.
“There are still questions around how we can achieve this ‘right to choose’, given our different climate and farming systems. That’s what needs more investigation, and careful drafting of regulation.
“We also propose regular system reviews to ensure whatever is brought in is working for all farmers and growers.”
On trade, Langford says giving farmers the right to choose will mean individual farmers and the companies they supply can determine this, taking into consideration their customers’ preferences.
“Whichever side of the fence you’re on regarding this topic, I hope you can see we’ve listened carefully to both sides of the argument and tried to find a pathway forward,” he says.
“Ultimately, it’s individual farmers who should be able to weigh up the worth of any premium from being GE-free, compared to any benefits of using a GE crop or grass.”
Tractor manufacturer and distributor Case IH has announced a new partnership with Meet the Need, the grassroots, farmer-led charity working to tackle food insecurity across New Zealand one meal at a time.
The DairyNZ Farmers Forum is back with three events - in Waikato, Canterbury and Southland.
To celebrate 25 years of the Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship, Ravensdown caught up with past recipients to see where their careers have taken them, and what the future holds for the industry.
Among this year’s Primary Industry NZ (PINZ) Awards finalists are a Southlander who created edible bale netting and rural New Zealanders who advocate for pragmatic regulation and support stressed out farmers.
Rockit Global has appointed Ivan Angland as its new chief operating officer as it continues its growth strategy into 2025.
Nominations are now open for the Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) board.
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